It was hoped that Gonzalo Higuain's move to Chelsea might add some much needed impetus to their ailing season but his first game wasn't ideal. Now Maurizio Sarri has given a damning assessment of the striker.
Chelsea had a lot of hopes coming into this season with Maurizio Sarri in charge of the club. The Italian had a lot of relative success with Napoli and the chance for him to bring his famed 'Sarriball' to Stamford Bridge was exciting.
Things started well enough for the Blues and until November 24th were unbeaten in the Premier League, keeping early pace with Liverpool and Manchester City, but things have changed drastically since their loss to Spurs.
The Blues 4-0 loss to Bournemouth on Wednesday evening was their fifth of the season and dropped them out of the Champions League places, behind Arsenal on goals scored.
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That lack of goals is what's hampering Sarri's side and he brought Gonzalo Higuain to help with that but the Italian was taken off during the embarrassing loss this week.
Now Sarri has revealed, in an honest assessment, that the former Real Madrid striker isn't completely in shape, saying:
"He can improve a great deal. At this moment, he is not in good shape."
The former Napoli boss, who managed Higuain to his Serie A goalscoring record season, revealed that a back injury is partially to blame for the striker's current condition, adding, "He has played very little recently between transfer market distractions and back pain. He can grow a great deal over the next few weeks."
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It's still a little worrying that the Argentina international is so far behind on fitness and fans will be hoping it won't take him long to get back into form.
The Stamford Bridge side were desperate to bring him in as Sarri had been forced to use Eden Hazard as a central striker with Alvaro Morata falling out of favour.
The 31 year old has joined on loan initially, after his loan with AC Milan was ended prematurely, and the Blues will have the chance to extend it or buy him outright.
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Sarri really needs the former River Plate to get up to speed quickly otherwise they could find it difficult to finish in the top four.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Gonzalo Higuain, Football News, Maurizio Sarri, Chelsea, Alvaro Morata, Transfer rumours, Premier League, AC Milan, Juventus, bournemouth, Transfer news