Official: Higuain to Juve

urbaNRoots wrote:And how many CL opportunities has Higuain had since his Napoli transfer? 4 games and he scored in 3 of them, against Arsenal and Dortmund too.

You do realize that players keep improving or get worse in time and don't stay at the same level right? Especially someone like Higuain who has entered his prime now.

He's 28 going on 29 in December.  Strikers enter their early prime around 24 and usually are done come 30-31 unless they're aliens like Ibra.   To give you Arsenal examples, Van Persie dropped off big time when he turned 31.  Thierry Henry as well.

Are you guys seriously saying that Higuain is worth 95 million and he's going to be a difference maker in CL for Juve? Seriously???

It may happen... but it would be sheer luck as opposed to something one would reasonably expect going in.

sportsczy wrote:

urbaNRoots wrote:And how many CL opportunities has Higuain had since his Napoli transfer? 4 games and he scored in 3 of them, against Arsenal and Dortmund too.

You do realize that players keep improving or get worse in time and don't stay at the same level right? Especially someone like Higuain who has entered his prime now.

He's 28 going on 29 in December.  Strikers enter their early prime around 24

Nope, most strikers enter their prime around 27-28. But hey don't make my word for it, most strikers say the same thing.

But i suppose you know more than former strikers at the top of the game

sportsczy wrote:@BC...  please don't make crap up.  Tevez is your countryman too ffs.

He joined City in 2009.  From 2009 until 2013, City played in 13 European competition games, 7 of which were Europa.  So Tevez didn't score in 6 CL opportunities

Not to mention all those CL games happened in 2011-2012 and 2012-2103 when he was feuding with Mancini.  he wasn't a regular for 3/4 of those seasons.

And Juve bought him for close to nothing, not 95 million

Do you really want me to compare anyone with Higuain's CL stats?  Come on now.

I did say "IIRC", just the stat that I remembered, but it might have been in Europe no in the CL.

I'm not saying he doesn't have excuses for it, only that stats can be misleading.

sportsczy wrote:

urbaNRoots wrote:And how many CL opportunities has Higuain had since his Napoli transfer? 4 games and he scored in 3 of them, against Arsenal and Dortmund too.

You do realize that players keep improving or get worse in time and don't stay at the same level right? Especially someone like Higuain who has entered his prime now.

He's 28 going on 29 in December.  Strikers enter their early prime around 24 and usually are done come 30-31 unless they're aliens like Ibra.   To give you Arsenal examples, Van Persie dropped off big time when he turned 31.  Thierry Henry as well.

Higuain hasnt had a single long term/medium term injury in the last 3 years. I havent checked properly but i was reading on twitter that he's been totally injury free the last 3 years. Not a single injury in his time at napoli.

How can you even compare him injury prone strikers like RVP ? Not to mention Henry had to deal with injury issues in the tail end of his Arsenal career as well.

Like it or not, fitness was one of the issues in RVP dropping off earlier than expected.

sportsczy wrote:

urbaNRoots wrote:And how many CL opportunities has Higuain had since his Napoli transfer? 4 games and he scored in 3 of them, against Arsenal and Dortmund too.

You do realize that players keep improving or get worse in time and don't stay at the same level right? Especially someone like Higuain who has entered his prime now.

He's 28 going on 29 in December.  Striker enter their early prime around 24 and usually are done come 30-31 unless they're aliens like Ibra.   To give you a prime Arsenal example, Van Persie dropped off big time when he turned 31.  Thierry Henry as well.

As you say some players enter their prime years earlier and some later. Neither me, nor you can know if he will keep it up. What we DO know though is that Higuain right now is a top class striker who has significantly improved in every aspect of the game since his transfer to Napoli and now with Juve he will be surrounded by a better team and coach. His previous record in the CL is irreoevant considering that he has not had the chance to improve it since his Napoli transfer. Hence the Tevez comparison.

OK lets look at other non-injury strikers. Henry wasn't injury-prone btw but anyhow...

Diego Forlan went from 28 goals to 10 goals when he turned 31.
David Villa went from 23 goals to 9.
Eto'o went to Russia when he was 30 so it's hard to say. But he only scored 13 and 21 goals in his first 2 seasons there.

Etc.

The only striker that has aged well that I can remember is Ibra because he's just such a physical beast. I think Ronaldo will also hold on a bit because he's so athletic and fit.

For those against the move you have to stop lookong at the money angle. It doesnt matter. We have reached a point where it really means little. If the buying club can afford then they should. The market is at a stand still all the best players are settled and their clubs wont sell. You go down the list and higuain is there available.

Frankly if i was everton o would put a 80 millions price tag on lukaku, some team will pay it soon enough.

@urbie... that's your opinion. He scored just as much at Madrid. The only better scoring season Higuain had compared to Madrid was this last one.

If he was 26 or younger, I'd agree with you. He'd have more time to evolve and a lot do. But at 28 going on 29, he is what he is. It's very good, mind you. Heck, he might surprise everyone and not choke on the big stage.

But my point isn't about this. It's about paying 95 million for him. That's just moronic.

Mr Nick09 wrote:For those against the move you have to stop lookong at the money angle. It doesnt matter. We have reached a point where it really means little. If the buying club can afford then they should. The market is at a stand still all the best players are settled and their clubs wont sell. You go down the list and higuain is there available.

Frankly if i was everton o would put a 80 millions price tag on lukaku, some team will pay it soon enough.

The thing is Nick, you don't see these numbers attached to older players unless they're proven great players.  The James, Martial, Neymar, Bale, etc. transfers were for kids really... Pogba too. So even if the football investment fails, you're going to recover a good chunk of your financial investment if you choose to sell.

I'm surprised at the sum given Higuain's age and the fact that he's not a big time player really. If Juve's football investment fails with Higuain, it's also a financial failure. They're not going to recover it.

Maybe the market has become this crazy though.

sportsczy wrote:OK lets look at other non-injury strikers. Henry wasn't injury-prone btw but anyhow...

Diego Forlan went from 28 goals to 10 goals when he turned 31.
David Villa went from 23 goals to 9.
Eto'o went to Russia when he was 30 so it's hard to say. But he only scored 13 and 21 goals in his first 2 seasons there.

Etc.

The only striker that has aged well that I can remember is Ibra because he's just such a physical beast. I think Ronaldo will also hold on a bit because he's so athletic and fit.

Why are you looking so far ahead though? Higuain will be 28 when the season starts, not 31. He has 3 seasons to play until he apparently declines if he does. If he can help make Juventus competitive in the CL for 3 seasons atleast then that's money well spent. And that's considering that he does decline at 31 which is no guarantee really.

Urbie... he turns 29 in december.  People look at the year of birth.  Higuain is a 1987 player.

And you really think Higuain is the key to make any team better in CL?  That's just very very wishful thinking to me, which is what I thought with Ibra too when PSG were pimping him. I have no doubt he will get stats in pool play against lesser teams because elite teams will make it impossible for him not to. But against the elite where you need a top performance... i don't think you would even see Higuain as a player who would make the difference there.

sportsczy wrote:But S.... what's the point then?  Juve surely didn't buy Higuain because they thought he was going to be a difference maker in CL.  For Serie A, it's completely unnecessary.

Did they pay the money to weaken their main competition and save face in terms of PR?

I'm no longer a Juve fan for years.  But I do watch them and usually want them to do well.  This is a very strange move to me.

The team is put together to compete now. Every defender except for Rugani is 30 or approaching it. Similarly goes for the midfield.

Another thing to remember is Juventus have already scheduled their own rebuild come 2018. Buffon will be gone- this is MASSIVE. Allegri gone, Barzagli gone, Evra gone. And others.

That creates a 2 year window to try to win the champions league and regardless of Higuain's past, this is a champions league move and as the only world class #9 on the market and as most Juventus fans will tell you, if Pogba was to leave the main area to improvement in the starting 11 would be a top class #9, and we did that.

The cost is massive. It's overpay for sure but ADL was never going to negotiate with Juventus. Never, under any circumstances, even if he was on the verge of bankruptcy. The cost is a fair criticism but you guys usually mock Juventus for being cheap and missing out on players, now we step up and y'all still talk just as loudly. But anyways, this is insane for Juventus. I'm in shock.

sportsczy wrote:Urbie... he turns 29 in december.  People look at the year of birth.  Higuain is a 1987 player.

And you really think Higuain is the key to make any team better in CL?  That's just very very wishful thinking to me, which is what I thought with Ibra too when PSG were pimping him.  I have no doubt he will get stats in pool play against lesser teams because elite teams will make it impossible for him not to.  But against the elite where you need a top performance...  i don't think you would even see Higuain as a player who would make the difference there.

Have you actually watched Napoli games since Higuain's transfer? He literally scores in every big game for Napoli, be it Juventus, Roma, Inter, whoever you want. He has scored in important cup games. He has scored against Arsenal and Dortmund in the CL, which would've sent Napoli through if not for goal difference. Goals like that will prove more significant if you have a stronger squad like Juventus has.

You're projecting the Real Madrid Higuain into this new world class Higuain that we've actually been seeing last season. Seriously mate, you're sounding really uninformative in this thread.

And yes, there's no reason to believe why this player who is absolutely expectional cannot help Juventus in their CL ambitions. Paired with Dybala, the duo can cause serious damage against any team in the world, especially helped by Juventus' secure defence which rarely fails.

Its gonna be awesome when after all this talk he scores against Madrid in the CL

94mill is really expensive but he was a monster this year. Great at everything in the CF game. I would have rather gone for Icardi if he wasn't such a douche, but he is.

He is 29, prime age for a striker. Don't know what that 24 year old prime nonsense is all about. We signed Nedved at 29...

early prime to late prime Rincon... for strikers, early prime is usually 24-25 and they fall off pretty hard after 31-32. The only reason I brought it up is resale value. You're not going to recover anything in 2-3 years for Higuain if you want to move him.... hence my shock at the 95 mil pricetag.

Turok_TTZ wrote:
Juventus fans when Higuain miss eliminates them from cl this upcoming season:

Juventus were serious about higuain?!

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 and Serie A lack stars period now.  At Madrid, few noticed him much because he was clearly not among the more talented players on the squad + La Liga has a lot of talented strikers.  Your eyes tend to look at the best players when you watch a team...  

So how am i uninformed?

The price tag is huge but there is no question that he is at his prime. Center forwards are nowhere near their prime at 24, they need much more experience. 29-31 is the prime for a CF.

No doubt that he will deliver.

I cannot fathom anyone arguing in favor of Higuain. Leaguewise he will secure you Serie A but my understanding is that Juventus has been secure on Serie A title for a long time. CL? Higuain is one destined to disappoint. how many times must that man fail just for peeps to get the hint? He also hasn't evolved much. top kek at anyone thinking this is a good deal.

He didn't stand out because he was the most talented player at Napoli, he stood out because he had a ridiculously good season. He scored 38 goals in the league for Napoli. He scored all sorts of goals and did everything right. And he actually has played well with Napoli in Europe every time.

rincon wrote:The price tag is huge but there is no question that he is at his prime. Center forwards are nowhere near their prime at 24, they need much more experience. 29-31 is the prime for a CF.

No doubt that he will deliver.

Rincon...  look at R9, Eto'o, Ronaldinho, Messi (still going but fading a bit compared to his best), Van Basten, Chevchenko, Henry, Van Persie, Forlan, Van Nistelroy etc.  They really started rolling in their mid 20s and then fell off on or around 30.  Just go check out their stats by year.  It's pretty telling.

Bizarre choice to spend all that money on Higuain. Down right stupid if you ask me.

I'm actually stunned.

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

@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.