Former Napoli star Diego Maradona says he is “hurting” at the prospect of Gonzalo Higuain joining Juventus.
Widespread reports in Italy on Saturday suggested the Argentina striker is poised to move to the Serie A champions after they agreed to meet his release clause of just over €94million.
The staggering sum would make Higuain the second most expensive transfer in history, behind Gareth Bale, who left Tottenham for Real Madrid for €100m in 2013.
Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis said this week that the pursuit of the striker was “a lost battle”, given that Juve general director Giuseppe Marotta had himself stated that they would not trigger the release clause.
However, with the 28-year-old reportedly having undergone a Juve medical in Madrid on Saturday, Napoli fans led a minor protest against De Laurentiis outside the club’s training base, furious at the prospect of losing last season’s Serie A top scorer to their title rivals.
And Maradona, who inspired Napoli to two Scudetti, the Coppa Italia and the UEFA Cup, feels supporters are being overlooked by “those fat cats of business” – though he said Higuain himself is not to blame.
“This Higuain affair is hurting me because he is going to a direct rival like Juventus,” he wrote on his official Facebook page. “But we cannot blame the player either.
“A player has a responsibility to himself and it is those fat cats of business that are grinning the most in this case. Nobody thinks of the fan.
“I’m tired of saying that today it seems to be more important to be a good businessman than a good president. This did not happen in my time. Too bad that FIFA continues to sleep.”
Higuain’s predicted move is likely to accelerate rumours surrounding Paul Pogba, with Manchester United reported to have reached an agreement with Juve to sign the France international for a world-record fee of close to €120m.
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