Official: Higuain to Juve

@Sports

Look at the list of players you are using... jesus...

Van Basten?? He was retired by then because if injuries lol
Ronaldinho, Messi and Forlan are not CFs... might as well throw Juan Mata in there going by playstyle.
R9 prime was when he was around 20 before injuries got to him.

Look at circumstances instead of blindly throwing out names.

He evolved in the sense that he took a lot more shots than he ever did while not being too inefficient. Because of the talent at Madrid, no striker has the freedom, other than Ronaldo, to take shots if they aren't in quasi perfect conditions. Higuain carried that habit with him his first 2 years at Napoli.

This year, he threw caution to the wind and almost and took a ton more shots. His efficiency drop to around 20% on his shots whereas it was 25-30% in his typical season before. But his overall goal numbers went way up.

I watched. Great season by him. But again, in terms of what I saw technically and physically (movement) at Madrid, he's pretty much the same. He just gets the ball more and lets it fly more easily.

Never said his last season wasn't a great one.

rincon wrote:@Sports

Look at the list of players you are using... jesus...

Van Basten?? He was retired by then because if injuries lol
Ronaldinho, Messi and Forlan are not CFs... might as well throw Juan Mata in there going by playstyle.
R9 prime was when he was around 20 before injuries got to him.

Look at circumstances instead of blindly throwing out names.

OK...

Eto'o
Henry
Van Nistelrooy
Trezeguet
Batistuta
Crespo
Makaay
Van Persie

You can't tell me these guys aren't CFs. And btw, Higuain had a major back injury at Madrid too so you can't say "he's never been injured". He has.

sportsczy wrote:Higuain with Real Madrid scored 24, 29 and 26 goals while sharing the starting job.  The other 2 years in between those seasons were the ones he got injured and his last season where Mou lost everyone.

At Napoli, Higuain scored 24 and 29 goals his first two years while being the undisputed starter.  He scored 38 this season, which is the only where he was better than his Madrid days.  Napoli never made it out of group stages for CL and he was a massive flop at NT (among others there).

To me, he stood out because he was clearly the best player on Napoli in terms of talent.  At Madrid, few noticed him much because he was clearly not among the more talented players on the squad.  Your eyes tend to look at the best players when you watch a team...  

So how am i uninformed?

Scoring 29 and 38 goals with Napoli in Serie A is significantly more impressive than scoring 24/29 with Real Madrid, even with a shared job. I hope you know the difference in quality between Napoli and Real Madrid.

Napoli did not advance the group of death yes, despite Higuain's goals against Arsenal and Dortmund, especially Arsenal when he scored their 2nd goal which meant qualification should Dortmund not score next. But sure let's blame Higuain for that.

Besides you are only looking at numbers which again shows that you have actually not SEEN his improvement in all the other areas of his game. The hold-up play, the link-up with other players, the movement and his performance in big games. He has changed a lot and is not the same player at all since his transfer.

rincon wrote:"He hasn't evolved much" is a phrase so clearly said by someone who didn't watch a single minute of Higuain this season

You are barking to the wrong and worst person if you think I am not familiar with Higuain. Higuain has become far more a modern cf in recent times compared to years past. Most certainly not the same person who left madrid. he has improved in other areas but in terms of being a legit goal threat he has not improved. mentality is a huge factor and in that area he has not improved in years. Can't handle the pressure that comes with facing the big boys. inflation of goals on scrub teams mean nothing to me for he never had that problem. show me the goals against the big boys.

I think with 94m one could have invested better.

There can be absolutely no doubt Higuain is a huge enforcement for Juve, on a position where they were solid yet not outstanding last season.
Higuain was the best striker in the world, along with Suarez, last season.
So it's a huge addition.

As for the money, well Juve will have to spend the 120m Pogba money SOMEWHERE, and buying one of the very best strikers in the world is surely one relatively reasonable way to get rid of it.

Everything you say means he has indeed evolved Turok. Don't understand the point.

His goals against the big boys have basically come every time for Napoli, watch him play instead of projecting Madrid's former player.

@ urbie... he actually did a lot of that at Madrid as our CFs are forced to dezone a ton due to Ronaldo acting like a CF.  Technically, he looks more the part at Napoli.  But i think that's because his teammates aren't WC technically whereas the contrast at Madrid was visible.

He's improved a lot this past season.  I didn't think he did at all the years before.  Namely, he stayed aggressive the whole season and maintained his work rate and movement.

I never ever had a single problem with him other than his big game performances... that was my issue.  There are 6-8 games a season at Real Madrid that define you as a player.

We'll see how much he has really improved when Juve play in CL against the top sides.  The rest mean very little to me unless you just go bananas or you suck.  Otherwise, I expect a 25-30 goal season depending on Dybala.

To me, the most exciting player by far for Juve is Dybala and I hope the manager remembers that.  This kid could be the next big thing.

Terrific piece of business by Juventus.

You can spin it however you like, but replacing Morata with Higuain is a huge upgrade.

Huge signing. Juventus are genuine Champions League contenders and it's almost impossible to reject such a club in this case.

Goal Legacy Logic is perfectly represented in this thread and personally, I have never been more proud

1) "there's no need to discuss transfer costs and worth, players are worth what the club thinks they are worth"- the good old market analogy, you wouldn't barter for a can of beans at your local grocery store so why bother with living and breathing football players?

2) "the management of the club clearly knows more than me, let the experts do their work"- I mean, who else is better suited to decide who the club signs then the person who does the signing for the club

3) "history repeats itself. I personally have seen player x since puberty and I can tell you he's the same"- people can't change, why should players be able to, utter nonsense.

All this uproar from some actually trying to be as negative as you can about signing a world class player in his prime in order to win the Champions League with an aging group of players that has at most 2 seasons left together - why is everyone skipping over this major fact? I'll never know

I just wanted you to know that I hate all of ya'll for being inconsistent and selective in your arguments, for making assumptions, for contradicting yourselves and just generally for being negative.

Except for tom and mole, ya'll are cool. Hans too.

@Luca... i just think Juve could have done better with 94 million. Just shocked at the price.

But then again, Madrid allegedly refused 75 million for Morata. So maybe I shouldn't be shocked lol.

Who's going to replace Pogba in Juve's midfield ?

farfan wrote:Who's going to replace Pogba in Juve's midfield ?

Pjanic

Hapless_Hans if this is your latest attempt at comedy, know that reading your post pains me in ways I didn't think possible. 10/10 would read again.

@rincon he had to change his game. lost out miserably at madrid and certainly wouldnt have survived Serie A if he didnt change. The classic 9 is overrated and dead these days. to be considered elite and remain elite, one must become a modern cf. to his credit, he has the skillset that i will not deny. Having said that, that skillset is wasted on higuain. on another person, that person would become top 5 minimum. and higuain is no where near the top 10 let alone 5.

in terms of mentality, Higuain has not evolved at all. And that is the most important area he lacks.

We shall see if Juventus was wise to burn 94m. But as of right now, they spent that money on a big game flopping, scrub killing choker. projecting? thats laughable and an argument for one who has no argument. Tarnish not his argentina career which is also laughable. why do they keep calling him up when he is the one who signs their failure warrant? though tbf he is better than aguero but I've never rated either to begin with.

sportsczy wrote:@Luca... i just think Juve could have done better with 94 million. Just shocked at the price.

But then again, Madrid allegedly refused 75 million for Morata. So maybe I shouldn't be shocked lol.

You have any idea how pissed I am on us allegedly refusing that bid? Morata isn't even a talent let alone an elite yet somehow he is worth 75m. disgusting this market has become. has the standards for cf dropped so low?

sportsczy wrote:@Luca... i just think Juve could have done better with 94 million. Just shocked at the price.

But then again, Madrid allegedly refused 75 million for Morata. So maybe I shouldn't be shocked lol.

I get that and I think that's fair, incredibly fair. It's massive overpay and a completely shocking fee considering Juventus basically had the chance to sign him for half that from Real Madrid but refused to be involved due to the cost.

But I see an ambitious move for the club trying to get to that next level right now, it would be huge to win the CL with this group- this manager, Buffon, Barzagli, I think the intention is quite clear and that's to compete right now.

For the record, I'm not a very big Higuain fan but he has to surely be the best #9 on the market or to have moved this summer.

If not for his release clause, even if Juventus offered 94M, De Laurentiis would have refused it, that's how crazy he is.

Things keep going like this and Pogba for 120 million is going to look like a bargain come September

sportsczy wrote:Things keep going like this and Pogba for 120 million is going to look like a bargain come September

Truly disgusting if you ask me. It'll work out for juventus in serie a at least so if by some off chance they fail to defend Serie A title, would be one legendary thread.

It's interesting to go back to the Higgy to Napoli thread and see so many Juve fans arguing that he wasn't worth 40m 3 years ago and now do a complete flip flop

http://www.goallegacy.net/t30119p275-official-higuain-joins-napoli

Someone with more time should do a quote compilation

Well i for one raise my hand.

to be fair BC... Madrid paid 30 for Modric and I thought that was a lot of money at the time. Paid only 30 for Kroos too.

What does 30 mil buy you these days?

Juve got Tevez instead and Tevez was clearly better than Higuain in both seasons he was at Juve.  So I don't think Juve lost anything there. Got Tevez for 9 mil from what I recall too...

sportsczy wrote:to be fair BC... Madrid paid 30 for Modric and I thought that was a lot of money at the time.  Paid only 30 for Kroos too.

What does 30 mil buy you these days?

Mario Balotelli

BarrileteCosmico wrote:It's interesting to go back to the Higgy to Napoli thread and see so many Juve fans arguing that he wasn't worth 40m 3 years ago and now do a complete flip flop

http://www.goallegacy.net/t30119p275-official-higuain-joins-napoli

Someone with more time should do a quote compilation

I was so pissed we didn't sign him, 3 years later... still pissed.

TBH, I think this is a great buy for Juventus. I will never doubt Higuains quality, especially after the season he ha djust had, he is just behind Suarez as the best #9 in Europe atm and does it all. My problem with him was his mentality and we all know the issues he has had but perhaps Argentina is a different level as the pressure for playing for that NT is on a different level. Even Messi crumbled under the pressure so maybe I shouldn't hold it against him.

Last season under pressure in the final few months he got himself banned and mentally collapsed once again. If he can fix that he will be a bargain for Juventus. Him him and Dymbala can form a great partnership and his movement will actually free up Dymbito a bit more. I just hope Pogba stays so we can have a real super team on our hands.

Lol at people doubting the Pipita lad. Unlike others he can actually justify that pricetag by the number of goals he scores. Dude scores as much as the Ronaldos and Messis ffs. That alone should justify that huge pricetag. He will win a CL soon with Juve and people will finally shut up about the "he is crap in cl" bullcrap i keep hearing