It is fair to say that Eden Hazard was quite excited about one arrival during his Chelsea days.
Chelsea‘s 2018/19 team was quite a successful one, especially compared to the Blues side you see today.
Under Maurizio Sarri, they managed to win the Europa League and come third in the Premier League table.
However, it was missing something, and the club did try to correct that during the January transfer window.
Eden Hazard was ecstatic about Gonzalo Higuain arrival
The 2018/19 season proved to be Hazard’s best individual campaign in a Chelsea shirt as the former winger formed part of an attack featuring the likes of Willian, Pedro, Olivier Giroud and eventually Gonzalo Higuain.
While Hazard and Giroud were linking up well that year, something that the Belgian spoke about at the time, the latter was not a prolific centre-forward. It was something that Chelsea were lacking and they signed Higuain on loan from AC Milan to try and fix the problem.
It was a signing that Hazard welcomed, with the 34-year-old comparing him to Diego Costa.
Discussing Higuain, Hazard said (via Daily Mail): “With Chelsea I had the chance to play with one of the best in Diego Costa for three years, and I think Higuain is one of the best. My position is more winger than No 9, but me, I just try to have fun with my striker, with the other winger, so when the striker is there it is good for me.
“We all know that I like to play the give and go with my striker, so if the striker just goes deep, I am going to be in trouble, but Giroud understands this, that’s why I like to play with him.
“We all know that, and I think Higuain is going to do the same, and of course he is a fantastic striker, he has scored a lot of goals, when you see his career, Real Madrid, Napoli, Juventus, he has always scored goals.”
In the end, though, the former Argentina international was unable to replicate his Juventus and Napoli form at Chelsea.
Higuain scored just five goals in 18 appearances before returning to Milan, with Chelsea deciding not to take up their option to either extend his loan deal or sign him permanently.
| Gonzalo Higuain’s Chelsea career | Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| Premier League | 14 | 5 | 0 |
| Europa League | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| FA Cup | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Carabao Cup | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 18 | 5 | 0 |
It was Antonio Conte’s decision to get rid of Costa the previous season that left Chelsea in need of another striker, as neither Giroud nor Alvaro Morata proved to be a reliable goalscorer.
Despite his track record, though, Higuain failed to become that for the Blues either.
Chelsea’s alternative to Gonzalo Higuain
Higuain was not the only striker Chelsea looked at during the 2019 January transfer window.
According to Sky Sports, the Blues also had Callum Wilson on their shortlist and were willing to pay up to £50m for his services.
He was great for Bournemouth that season, finishing the campaign with 15 goals in all competitions.
Since then, Wilson has gone on to join Newcastle United, where the England international has flourished when he has been fit. He has netted almost 50 goals for the Magpies.
Wilson has come on to Chelsea’s radar again since January 2019, but a move has never materialised.
All things considered, given how his Chelsea career panned out, a fit Wilson probably would have been a more effective signing than Higuain.
