LA Galaxy: Gonzalo Higuain a truly terrible idea
The LA Galaxy are being linked with a move for out-of-favour Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuain. Here is why it would be a truly terrible idea.
The Los Angeles Galaxy have never been scared to make a splash. The club that brought the first true European superstar to Major League Soccer, then added Zlatan Ibrahimovic to the mix, engineered one of the most dominant periods in league history, and signed the most popular footballer in Mexico are not exactly reserved.
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Their current roster is full of relative stars. Javier Hernandez is the biggest name in the league, Cristian Pavon is one of only a few MLS players to have played at a World Cup, while Jonathan dos Santos, Sebastian Lletget and Aleksandar Katai are not exactly small-time players.
And it seems as though they might not stop there, despite the recent troubles they have experienced when squeezing so many stars into a starting XI that becomes clunky, awkward and lacks cohesion.
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The LA Galaxy are now being linked with a move for Juventus centre-forward, Gonzalo Higuain. The Argentinian is now 32 years of age and is nearing the end of his career.
After a loan spell with Chelsea last season, the Juventus striker has played 23 league games this season totalling 1,464 minutes. Paulo Dybala and Cristiano Ronaldo are the chief offensive players in Maurizio Sarri’s squad, while Higuain’s contract expires at the end of the 2020/21 season and is not expected to be renewed. A move Stateside is on the cards.
And the LA Galaxy have quite the trump card: head coach Guillermo Barros Schelotto, who knows Higuain and the entire Higuain family well.
“I saw an interview with Gonzalo where he said he wanted to stay at Juventus and in Europe. Maybe it’s too early for Higuain, but never say never in football,” Schelotto told TuttoSport, in quotes translated to English by The Sporting News. “I personally know the whole family, his father Jorge and brother Federico. We have already brought in [Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s] replacement in Chicharito Hernandez and we are happy with him. In Higuain’s case, it would be a separate matter. It’s a dream for the future, but it won’t be easy.”
It seems, then, that as long as Schelotto remains with the LA Galaxy, a move for Higuain is a possibility. And given his brother’s success in MLS, Gonzalo has an inside track on the unique characteristics of MLS. There are reasons that this could happen.
But as the league has increasingly illustrated, signing potentially washed-up European stars is not a smart move. Wayne Rooney and Zlatan may have brought shirt sales and good performances, but their teams were entirely built around them and it was to the detriment of the team. Bastian Schweinsteiger showed his elite past in Chicago, but he could rarely translate into the present due to his depreciating athleticism.
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Higuain is very much built in this ilk of star: someone who is passed his best and only slowing down. Given his age and the financial investment it would take to sign him, he would be a terrible signing. But that will not stop the LA Galaxy.