Chelsea: Gonzalo Higuain and Alvaro Morata swap is a waste

Chelsea needs a better striker option. But swapping Alvaro Morata for Gonzalo Higuain is a like for like swap and a waste of resources and time.

Chelsea has quite a few issues, but chief among them is they can create chances and no one can put them in. Alvaro Morata, Olivier Giroud, and Eden Hazard have all been tried up top but none of the three has really proven to be the needed piece.

So Chelsea goes to the market for solutions. And since there is no technical director, there is absolutely no deep thinking when it comes to targets. Maurizio Sarri got the best out of Gonzalo Higuain once upon a time, so therefore he is target one (and honestly probably the only target).

Morata would go on loan to AC Milan as Higuain’s own Milan loan would be terminated so he can then go on loan to Chelsea. If all that sounds needlessly complicated that is because it is. This loan deal would be a massive waste of time and resources and would likely leave the team’s predicament completely unchanged.

Per WhoScored, both Morata and Higuain have five league goals this campaign. Higuain has taken more shots per game to get that tally and is a better passer but is worse aerially. Most stats involving buildup lean more towards Higuain but the actual end product (the thing Chelsea needs) is no different.

The most common defense of this deal is Morata is not going to turn the corner as is and Higuain’s best season came under Sarri. Sarri, therefore, can unlock the Argentine once again and ignite Chelsea’s strike force.

Now, game that logic out in two separate ways. Fernando Torres’ best season came under Rafa Benitez. Did Benitez unlock Torres? No he did not. Morata’s best season came under Zinedine Zidane. If Morata were to play under him again, would Morata replicate that? Most would say no, but that is little different than the connection between Sarri and Higuain.

Furthermore, this deal is full of short termism. And, in case it was missed, Chelsea made an equivalent short term deal last season over Olivier Giroud. Michy Batshuayi was the cost of that short term plan, this time it is Morata. At least at first.

If Chelsea get Higuain for six months (and Morata goes on loan for six or 18 months), then they will not look to the market again anytime soon. With a transfer ban potentially looming, now or this summer are the only times Chelsea can upgrade the striker position. Higuain would not be an upgrade and he would merely be a stop gap before Morata returned.

This deal is a terrible one for Chelsea. If the Blues want a striker to revitalize the attack, they need to go out and drop big money on it. The loan for Morata implies that his time is done in Blue and there is no point in bringing in a like for like replacement who will only delay the search simply because “he played really well with Sarri one year”.

Fans were against this deal in the summer, but misfiring strikers have turned the opinion on Higuain. But the reasons why the deal was bad then still remain and Chelsea will only look foolish if they go through with it. As if recalling Tammy Abraham (to sell him) or Batshuayi (to reloan or sell him) was not foolish looking enough.