Reports: Gonzalo Higuain’s future at Juventus anything but certain

It’s not so far-fetched to say that Gonzalo Higuian remaining on Juventus’ roster through last summer’s transfer window was one of the biggest early-season surprises we saw take place. There was the Maurizio Sarri factor, sure, but Higuain was high-priced and coming off one of the worst seasons of his career the year before with Milan and Chelsea.

The surprise has turned into a mostly productive season for Higuain, who has played a large role in some of Juventus’ biggest wins of the season before the coronavirus put everything on hold.

The thing is, though, a rebound of a season might not be the thing that keeps Higuain in Turin on a long-term basis.

According to reports from Fabrizio Romano published at calciomercato.com as well as an article by the good folks at Tuttosport, Higuain’s future at Juventus is far from set in stone. In fact, both Romano and Tuttosport have gone so far to state that Higuain is going to be on the market whenever the next transfer market actually does open up for business.

Of course, there are two things that makes selling Higuain rather difficult (just as there was last summer when rumors continuously stated that he was likely to leave the club before he didn’t):

• Higuain will be 33 years old in December.
• Higuain currently makes €7.5 million net a season, the third-highest total at Juventus behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Matthis de Ligt.

That is not exactly optimal conditions when it comes to trying to sell somebody or attract a whole lot of potential suitors. And it will be even that much tougher knowing that the transfer market is going to be a complete crapshoot based on the coronavirus having an impact on money clubs will have at their disposal.

Higuain, whose form had cooled off since his rather impressive start to the 2019-20 campaign, has scored seven goals and contributed six assists in all competitions this season. Before the suspension of play, Higuain’s playing time had taken a hit in the new year as Paulo Dybala became the preferred Argentinian to start up front for Sarri. But, a for a large portion of the season, Higuain has proven to be an effective player both as a starter and coming off the bench as a second-half spark of energy.

Whether that means it’s earned him another season in Turin remains to be seen. But if Juventus have visions of getting younger up and down the roster whenever transfer will take place next, then having a soon-to-be striker in his mid-30s not named Ronadlo on a high salary might not be a good starting point.