Juventus ‘have no intention of bringing Gonzalo Higuain back to Turin if Chelsea decide not to make his loan move permanent in the summer.’
The Argentine striker, 31, joined the Stamford Bridge club last month until the end of the season, having curtailed a loan spell at AC Milan.
Higuain scored two goals on his first start against Huddersfield Town but has failed to hit the target since.
He started Sunday’s Carabao Cup final against Manchester City on the bench but came on in extra time.
According to Il Corriere di Torino, Higuain will not be welcomed back by Juventus if Chelsea decide he isn’t for them at the end of the season.
The Blues have the option to sign Higuain for £31.5million or can extend his loan by a further 12 months for £16m.
Juventus are unwilling to pay his £300,000-a-week wages and want to lighten their wage obligations to pave the way for the arrival of Aaron Ramsey from Arsenal, who will earn £400,000-a-week.
Chelsea are reportedly considering taking advantage of this situation to use Higuain’s wage burden as leverage to negotiate a smaller fee for his transfer.
But first Higuain needs to find the net frequently for Maurizio Sarri’s side between now and the end of the campaign.
Juventus ‘try again’ for Marcelo
Juventus will reportedly ‘try again’ for Real Madrid left-back Marcelo this summer after trying to bring him in a year ago.
According to Sportitalia’s Alfredo Pedulla, Juve initially sought to sign Marcelo last summer, while the Brazilian has maintained his ‘desire’ to leave Madrid.
Pedulla explains the defender has been a ‘serious target’ for some time and that the Bianconeri ‘intend’ to go back in for him.
The 30-year-old has made over 450 appearances for Los Blancos since arriving from Fluminense in 2007 and won four Champions Leagues with Cristiano Ronaldo.
However, he has fallen behind youth product Sergio Regulion in pecking order and would have held talks about his future with Madrid aide Jose Angel Sanchez a few days ago.
It comes after Nicolas Tagliafico’s agent claimed the Spaniards were pursuing the Ajax full-back because Marcelo ‘will join Juventus’.