Higuain not planning to leave Juventus, says father

BUENOS AIRES: The father of Gonzalo Higuain has denied speculation that the Argentinian striker could leave Juventus this summer.

The 32-year-old has a year let on his contract but media reports have linked him with a move to his former club River Plate following a disappointing 2019-20 season in which he scored just 11 goals in 44 matches.

“He is not going to give up his contract to go to any team,” Jorge Higuain told Buenos Aires radio station Planeta 947 on Friday, reports Xinhua news agency.

“I think he will fulfill his current contract and only then will he think about going to River or any other club. Right now it’s almost impossible for Gonzalo to go to River.”

According to media reports, Higuain’s future has been clouded by the Juventus board’s decision to replace manager Maurizio Sarri with Andrea Pirlo.

Sarri was Higuain’s head coach at Napoli and Chelsea and was responsible for the center-forward’s move to Turin in July 2019.

Higuain began his professional career at River Plate in 2004 and scored 15 goals in 41 matches for the Buenos Aires oufit before his January 2007 transfer to Real Madrid.

Last week, France’s World Cup-winning midfielder Blaise Matuidi quit Juventus by mutual consent ater three years. Matuidi, 33, joined the Turin giants from Paris Saint-germain in 2017 and had one year let on his contract.

It is reported he is set to move to the United States to join David Beckham’s Major League Soccer club Inter Miami.

“Blaise Matuidi and Juventus say goodbye with the consensual termination of the player’s contract,” Juventus said in a statement.

“With our colours on his back, he fought and played his heart out in every single game; placing constant pressure on the opponents, tearing apart the run of play and ever so eloquently relaunching the ball into action.”

Matudi, who played in the 2018 World Cup final when France beat Croatia 4-2, won three Serie A titles, one Italian Cup and the Italian Super Cup at Juventus. He also won four Ligue 1 titles during six years at PSG, having previously played for French clubs Troyes and Saint Etienne.

Matuidi played 98 games for Juventus in Serie A and 133 times in all competitions, second only to Argentine forward Paulo Dybala (134). He helped Juventus win a ninth Serie A title in a row this season.