Argentina's Gonzalo Higuain (Photo : Reuters)
SSC Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis insisted that Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuaín is not for sale and will stay with the Italian club for as long as possible, as reported by The Guardian.
"There is absolutely no chance that Higuaín will leave," said De Laurentiis. "Gonzalo is a Napoli player. I have made his (release) clause clear in order to stop the constant speculation that appears in the press. There is a precise clause."
These comments are the club president's response to persistent rumors linking the 27-year-old forward to several Premiere League teams such as Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Arsenal.
According to Higuaín's contract, any prospective suitor must match the €94.736 million clause to acquire him, via ESPN. This stipulation was publicly made known by the club in a formal statement released to the media.
But even with the clause, De Laurentiis made it clear that there is no way that he will allow his star scorer to leave Naples.
Higuaín was transferred to Napoli from Real Madrid in 2013 for a fee of €40 million. Since then, he had been Partenopei's top scorer with 24 goals in 46 appearances in 2013-2014 and 29 of 56 last season.
As of the moment, Higuaín is taking his time off after helping Argentina in the recent Copa America tournament.
The Argentina international is the main substitute of the offensive trio of Lionel Messi, Ángel Di María, and Sergio Agüero. He helped Gerardo Martino's squad reach the final of the Copa America earlier this month, but fell short against host Chile in penalties.
