Will West Ham or Arsenal win the race for Napoli’s Gonzalo Higuain?

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West Ham have joined the race for Napoli forward Gonzalo Higuain according to reports emerging from Italy today.

Calciomercato.it are claiming that The Hammers are set to bid €70 million for the Argentine forward, who scored a staggering 36 goals in 35 Serie A games during 2015/16. If true, this is a real statement of intent from the club ahead of their first season away from Upton Park. With Arsenal already having supposedly offered €50 million plus Olivier Giroud in an attempt to lure Higuain, Premier League defenders must be having cold sweats over the prospect of facing the forward. Any team in the Premier League would be improved by a finisher of Higuain’s calibre, but what exactly does he offer, and which club would he be most suited to?

Well, for starters, whichever club is able to secure his services would be getting a truly world-class goalscorer. Higuain’s stats speak for themselves, with 71 goals in 104 league games during his time in Naples, as well as 107 in 190 matches for Real Madrid prior to his time in Italy. He has consistently proven himself to be up there with the likes of Sergio Aguero, Robert Lewandowski, Karim Benzema and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, as one of the world’s greatest out and out centre forwards. His signature would be a huge coup for both West Ham and Arsenal in particular, who could both do with a player of his quality leading the line.

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Arsenal supporters have long complained that they are just a proven goalscorer away from having a team capable of winning the league, and whilst Giroud guarantees 20 plus goals a season it is difficult to shake the feeling that the Gunners need a player capable of carrying the rest of the team when the going gets tough. The Frenchman can go missing at times when Arsenal really need him, whereas Manchester City can regularly rely on Aguero to rescue them when they haven’t been at their best. If a talisman is what Arsene Wenger is looking for then Higuain is definitely the man for the role. His 36 goals made up just under half of Napoli’s total last year, leading them to a second-placed finish in Serie A, and if it wasn’t for the unstoppable force that is Juventus then it is possible that the Partenopei could have lifted their first league title since 1990.

Higuain has been linked with the North London club before, which is no surprise as the move would make a lot of sense for all parties. As mentioned previously, Wenger is in desperate need of a forward who can lead his team to the title, and if the Arsenal board are willing to stump up the funds it seems as though the Argentine would be the best option available to them. Of the top centre forwards in the world only Higuain is at a club who Arsenal can claim to be bigger than at this moment, and therefore Wenger would be much more likely to be able to tempt him to join. At 28, and after three seasons desperately trying to overthrow Juventus, Higuain must surely be frustrated at the lack of honours he has to show for his endeavours. It is this that also makes him fantastically compatible with the Gunners, who in recently years have not picked up the trophies that their football deserves.

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In terms of competing for major trophies, a move to West Ham seems much less likely. The link seems to be fairly tenuous at this stage, and the club are reportedly in negotiations with AC Milan over the signing of Carlos Bacca, which appears to be a lot more realistic signing for them. Nevertheless, the Hammers are clearly looking to spend big ahead of their move to the Olympic Stadium, and a goalscorer is clearly at the top of Slaven Bilic’s wish list.

Despite his agent recently announcing that he would not be extending his current contract beyond 2018, Higuain does appear to be happy in Naples and it has been argued that the only thing that could persuade him to leave would be the prospect of competing for titles in either England or Spain. Many clubs are likely be interested in him, with Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone also reportedly chasing his signature. However, a move to England could be enough to tempt Higuain away from Stadio San Paolo, and whilst Arsenal appear to be leading the way as it stands, there are likely to be an array of clubs enquiring about his availability over the course of the summer.

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