Sarri’s sorry striker: How Higuain has fallen

Much was made about Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri’s pursuit of longtime ally Gonzalo Higuain in January, but two months on has the striker really lived up to the billing?

The answer, in honesty, is no. Despite fans crying out for a saviour after months of torment with former forward Alvaro Morata leading the line, Higuain has simply failed to live up to his former glories at Sarri’s old club Napoli.

The 31-year-old scored over 15 league goals in each of his three seasons at the Naples outfit throughout 2013-2016, with his best season returning an astonishing 36 goals in 35 games. The tally was so impressive it saw Higuain break Gunnar Nordahl’s 56-year goalscoring record of most Serie A goals in a single season, a feat many believed to be unrivalled in Italian history.

The rapport built up between the pair led most to believe that despite Higuain’s subsequent lack of form with Juventus and then AC Milan, the reunion would revitalise Sarri’s spluttering season with firepower from the front.

For a brief moment, it looked like nostalgic fans would get the reconciliation they sought, as Higuain looked lively in his first game, causing problems for Sheffield Wednesday’s defence during the Blues’ 3-0 FA Cup win. He then played 65 minutes against Bournemouth in the Premier League before opening his account with a brace at home to now-relegated Huddersfield.

Since then though, things went downhill for the Argentinian, scoring only once more in his subsequent eight games in all competitions – and even then that subsequent solitary strike came against another relegation candidate in Fulham.

This has led many Chelsea fans to become disillusioned with Sarri’s tactics, with large parts of the west London contingent clamouring for the false-nine formation that sees Eden Hazard deployed alongside two wingers – most likely to be Pedro and Willian.

With just seven games left in Chelsea’s season they are now sixth and chasing Tottenham, Man United and Arsenal in the race for the top four and have scored the least goals out of the four sides. Higuain will need to improve and improve fast if he is to reignite Sarri’s Champions League charge and ensure his reputation isn’t further damaged across Europe’s top leagues.