The Gunners refused to spend big money on Gonzalo Higuain

Arsenal pulled out of a contract with Gonzalo Higuain, opting instead to spend the money on Mesut Ozil.

What did Gonzalo Higuain say?

The Argentine footballer is still unable to explain why the proposed transfer to the Gunners never happened, with Higuain eager to point out that Arsenal splashed out €80m on the German footballer within days of being deemed too expensive. Wenger was known for his lean approach to recruiting throughout the landmark north London reign, but he made the odd exception and was willing to smash records when the right players became available. The prolific Gonzalo frontman was among those who regularly checked on his radar, but two opportunities to acquire a free South American were ultimately missed.

Arsene Wenger talked about Gonzalo Higuain in the summer of 2013, that they worked on two or three targets and he was one of them. It didn’t come off in the end, it doesn’t take anything away from its quality. According to Wenger, Napoli took advantage of this at the right moment, it’s more about timing.

The Argentine player, who scored 91 goals for Napoli over three seasons, has spoken out about being handed over to Arsenal when they picked up the German player, that he remembers being on the verge of a move to Arsenal when he went to Napoli, but they said that it is too expensive. Gonzalo Higuain says they paid €80 million for Mesut a few days later!

De Laurentiis talks about Higuain

After choosing against signing the Argentine in 2013, despite scoring over 100 goals at Real Madrid, the Gunners continued to follow his progress in Italy. Another opportunity to lure him to England presented itself in 2016, with Gonzalo Higuain filming in Naples, but once again Arsenal could not make a deal and the proven performer ended up in the Bianconeri.

The Napoli president then said that he thinks they have received some requests from Arsenal. According to Aurelio De Laurentiis, he personally also received a request from Atlético Madrid. But they didn’t put enough money on the table. They weren’t ready to sell it – for Aurelio, Gonzalo wasn’t sold.

Gonzalo eventually came to the PL when he joined the Blues on loan in 2019. Gonzalo Higuain won the Europa League at the time with Chelsea but had by then endured a dip in form and hit only five goals in 19 appearances and eventually left Europe to join Beckham’s MLS expansion franchise at Inter Miami in 2020.