Player Focus: Higuain Primed to Fire Napoli to Serie A Summit

“The contract will be respected. He’ll only go if a madman offers the buy-out clause. However, Gonzalo still belongs to Napoli,” the club’s charismatic chairman Aurelio De Laurentiis said of his star striker over the summer. Gonzalo Higuain’s current release clause is set at a staggering €100m with the Partenopei and while many laughed off De Laurentiis' claims at the time, the Argentine’s form this season suggests he is being vindicated over his comments. 

Arsenal and Manchester United were both linked with a move for Higuain over the summer. The former, ultimately, signed only Petr Cech during the transfer window, while the latter instead plumped for teenager Anthony Martial, whose form has tailed off of late after a storming start to life at Old Trafford. It’s fair to suggest, though, that both teams will have been improved with the acquisition of Higuain if his performances this campaign are anything to go by. 

With Rafa Benitez at the helm, Higuain was often caught a frustrated figure leading their attack. The Spaniard’s conservative approach, while adding structure to the Naples side, made Napoli far less appealing to watch in the final third. Benitez's persistence with a 4-2-3-1 formation also left Higuain incredibly isolated in attack at times. While the 27-year-old is capable of playing as the lone frontman, he is far more effective with players closer to him, where he can maximise his excellent link up play and clever movement off the ball. 

Maurizio Sarri noted this and has altered Napoli’s approach accordingly to have two players flanking either side of Higuain in a 4-3-3 formation. In Allan, Jorginho and Marek Hamsik, Sarri has at his disposal the ideal trio to form his midfield three - the ball winner, the retainer and deep-lying creator. However, it’s the forward line that is enabling Higuain to flourish. With Jose Callejon on the right flank, Napoli have a right winger in the conventional sense; a player capable of running at the opposition at speed and one who favours hogging the right touchline. 

Yet, it’s the deployment of Lorenzo Insigne on the left that has proved to be Sarri’s most inspiring selection. Not one to remain stationed on the left, Insigne instead prefers cutting infield and occupying the space vacated between the lines that Higuain opens up with his own forward runs. This has helped Insigne start the campaign in impressive fashion, but it’s the Italian’s keen eye for a defence splitting pass that has allowed Higuain to truly blossom in attack. 

Insigne boasts WhoScored strengths of ‘through balls’ and ‘key passes’, ideal for a player looking to slide in a striker who hangs on the shoulder of the last defender. It’s no coincidence that two of Insigne’s four league assists this season have been for a Higuain goal. Meanwhile, it’s this same link up play that means Insigne himself is handed the opportunity to go for goal. Both of Higuain’s league assists have been for an Insigne goal. A serious knee injury restricted the 24-year-old’s impact last season, but now back to full fitness and firing on all cylinders, Insigne is profiting Higuain and the team. 

Sarri’s slight tinkering means Higuain is playing in a system that allows him to flourish. The Argentina international has scored more goals (10) than any other player in Serie A this season. He has scored in 10 of Napoli’s last 17 competitive outings. The striker’s 10 league goals has contributed to his side’s 24 goals this season - only Roma (29) and Fiorentina (26) have netted more in Serie A.  

Of course, while Higuain’s approach enables him to get into good goalscoring positions, he runs the risk of being flagged offside more frequently. He has developed a statistically calculated WhoScored weakness of ‘offside awareness’ and for good reason - only Alberto Paloschi (98) has been caught offside more times than Higuain (90) than the last three Serie A seasons. Nonetheless, it’s an approach the clearly works in his favour. During that time, the Napoli star has more goals (45) than any other player. 

Meanwhile his average of 5.2 shots per game - the most in Italy’s top tier - is his best return in Serie A since moving to Napoli and suggests that the shackles have indeed been removed by Sarri. Ahead of their home encounter with Inter on Monday night, Higuain will need to be on top of his game if he is to add to his 10 league goals this season. Inter have conceded the fewest goals (7) in Serie A this term and have shipped just three on their travels this season, which is also a league low.

Yet with Serie A’s top rated player (7.75) in a rich vein of goalscoring form, Napoli have every right to believe that Higuain can fire Sarri’s side to Serie A’s summit at Inter’s expense on Monday.

How impressed have you been by Gonzalo Higuain for Napoli this season? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below