Juventus: Three hopes, one fear

Hope #1: That Gonzalo Higuain was worth the money.

Ninety million euros is a lot of money to spend on one player. Although the number has been a bit inflated in recent years with salaries going up across the board it is still quite a large sum of cash to put down for one spot. There may be a gamble acquiring any player but spending such a large sum places a rather large bullseye on one’s chest. It also makes it easy for writers to use the term bust much more liberally than they might on players with much meager salaries.

That is the risk that Juventus took when they picked up Gonzalo Higuain over the summer from Napoli. Higuain, 28, lit Serie A on fire last season scoring 38 goals and served as the league’s top scorer. The Argentine international has steadily become one of the top goalscorers in the world while playing for Napoli, Real Madrid, and River Plate. He isn’t exactly a like for like replacement for Pogba on the pitch (considering Higuain is a forward and Pogba plays more as a defensive midfielder) but in terms of name recognition he fits the bill.

The concern with the Higuain deal has never been with his skill. Rather it has been with the sheer monetary and number of years (5) that Juventus signed him for. Only three other players have had more expensive transfer fees attached to their names (Pogba to Manchester United, and Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid).

There is not a lot of precedent for a deal of this size. Ronaldo’s deal would unquestionably be considered a success while one could make the argument Bale hasn’t lived up to his salary figure. It is also too soon to tell about Pogba although some Manchester United supporters may disagree.

Thus far Higuain has lived up to the hype. In seven Serie A matches he has already scored six goals and has one goal in Champions League play. If Higuain can deliver another Serie A title for Juventus and get them their first European title since 1996 then he will have proven his value. But the longer Juve waits for a European title the more the pressure will build and the more this deal will be picked apart.