Gonzalo Higuain has left Juventus and joined AC Milan in a deal that also sees Leonardo Bonucci return to Juve after a year away in a swap for fellow centre-back Mattia Caldara.
Higuain, 30, was likely to see his minutes reduced in the upcoming season after Juventus’ signing of Cristiano Ronaldo. The striker arrives at Milan on an initial season-long loan for €18 million, with a clause to make the move permanent next summer for an additional €36m.
Higuain’s agent and brother, Nicolas, met with Milan technical director Leonardo on Tuesday to iron out details of the deal after being informed by Juve of what figure they would accept. He arrived in Milan on Wednesday and had a medical on Thursday before the deal was announced.
The Argentina international, who appeared in three games at the World Cup, set a Serie A scoring record with 36 goals for Napoli in 2015-16.
He then joined Juve for €90m when they activated a release clause in his contract, making him the most expensive transfer in Italian football at the time.
Juve beat that record this summer by signing Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid for €100m. His arrival consequently led them to listen to offers for Higuain — who was also attracting interest from Chelsea and their former coach, Maurizio Sarri.
Bonucci and Caldara swapped teams with each club paying €35 million for the other’s player, Juventus said in a statement.
Before joining AC Milan for €40m in a shock move last year, Bonucci, 31, spent seven seasons at Juventus and helped them win six successive Serie A titles. He now returns to Turin after only one year at the San Siro.
Caldara, 24, joined Juventus from Atalanta in January 2017, though he remained on loan with his former club until this June and made his only appearances for the Bianconeri debut last month in the International Champions Cup friendlies against Bayern Munich and Benfic
Source:ESPN
