Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuain is reportedly being lined up as Paris Saint-Germain’s marquee signing this summer to replace Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The Swedish international signed off with his 50th goal of the season in the League Cup final on Saturday night to help the Ligue 1 champions end the season with another piece of silverware.
However, that will be his last act for the club with his contract set to expire this summer, as Ibrahimovic confirmed earlier this month that he would indeed be moving on.
In turn, it represents a real problem for PSG in replacing his goals and overall influence, but according to Le Parisien, it appears as though they’ve found their preferred target.
Contact between the two parties has already been made with PSG executive Olivier Letang leading the talks on behalf of the French champions, while Higuain’s brother, Nicolas, was in Paris last weekend to continue discussions and visit the training ground.
Nevertheless, there are two big sticking points involved in the deal, although it is claimed that PSG are confident of finding the relevant solutions.
It is reported that the big-spending European giants aren’t put off by the Argentine forward’s €94m release clause, and will likely at least come close enough to meeting Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis’s demands, having previously been in a similar situation with Edinson Cavani three years ago.
Further, Higuain’s arrival could have potentially been blocked by the regulation of only four non-EU players being allowed in each squad in France. However, the striker was born in France and would therefore not be included in the list.
As a result, it seemingly paves the way for a deal to be done, with Napoli still likely to be desperate to hold on to the man that scored a Serie A record of 36 goals this past season.