With so much turmoil this summer and so many changes in such
a short time, it’s been impossible to welcome our new players properly with a
player profile. So during this international break, it seemed fitting to start
with the new player who has immediately cemented a place for himself in our
starting eleven: Higuain.
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| Unveiled like a champ, trolls like a hero |
Gonzalo Gerardo Higuain is known as an Argentinian
footballer, but he was actually born in France. And the reason he was born
there is because his father, Jorge Higuain, also a footballer, was playing in France
at the time. Like his teammate Rodriguez, he also has siblings who are
footballers. Most notably, his older brother, Federico Higuain, plays in the MLS
for the Columbus Crew. By birth, he was a French citizen, even though he left
France before he turned one year old, and he actually doesn’t even speak
French. But he finally applied for Argentine citizenship in 2007 and now holds
dual citizenship.
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| The Higuain boys, with Gonzalo in the center and his MLS-playing brother to his left |
Higuain, best known as “Pipita” or “el Pipa,” began his
career as a youth in the River Plate system, where he also spent the first two years of his senior career playing for the
senior team. He had 15 goals in 29 appearances, and that’s when Real Madrid
came calling.
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| A young Pipita celebrates at River Plate |
His time at Real Madrid was impressive, even if he lacked
the international star and name recognition of players like Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and
Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Which is ironic, because in the 2009-10 season, he was
actually La Liga’s second top scorer with 29 goals in all, only behind Messi.
But still ahead of Ibra and his teammate Ronaldo. In all, he would play for
Real Madrid for six and a half seasons, scoring 107 goals in 190 appearances.
While he was there, he would help them lift three La Liga titles, a Copa del Rey,
and two Supercopa de España trophies.
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| Higuain an essential player amongst the "Galacticos" |
From there, he went to Napoli in 2013. He became something
of a legend, scoring 71 goals in 104 appearances. In fact, in the 2015-16
season, he sat out a brutal three match ban, and still was Serie A’s capocannoniere
with 36 goals. The runner up only had 19 goals. Shockingly, he had a tough time
dealing with Napoli’s ridiculous owner, De Laurentiis. I don’t know why the man
who goes on a tirade then jumps on the back of some stranger’s scooter seems to
burn relationships with nearly every important player he manages to sign, but
in 2016, Pipita left the club.
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| Higuain scoring for Juve against his former Napoli, including former and current teammate Reina |
Higuain’s move to Juventus broke all kinds of records,
including highest transfer fee (at the time) for a South American player, and the
highest ever transfer fee for an Italian club (until Ronaldo this year.)
Despite Juve fans’ repugnant body shaming of the Argentine star, he scored 40
goals in 71 appearances for the club over two seasons. Milan fans will remember
that he scored both goals last season to give Juve the win at the San Siro
during Montella’s reign of terror. Higuain helped Juve to two Scudetti and two
Coppa Italia titles for the ungrateful wretches during his two years in Turin.
While Higuain was happy at Juventus, he became surplus when
his former Real Madrid teammate came to Juventus this past summer. Juve were so
anxious to get him off of their roster that they were willing to loan him to us
for a paid loan of €18 million, with an option to buy for €36 million in two
installments. Which was ideal for us, with FFP concerns, and it seems to have
worked out well so far for all parties involved. Juve got an even older striker
for more money who currently has 23 shots and zero goals in Serie A. And Milan
got a 30 year-old striker who is a better team player, even giving the assist on the
winning goal on Friday rather than score himself. I’m good.
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| His wife and daughter, whom he described as better than a goal at the Maracana |
Higuain has actually always been a team player, creating
chances as much as he scores, playing unselfishly and yet still scoring double
digits every season. He somehow flies below the radar of crashing sports cars,
partying, womanizing, and social media. In fact, he is a very private person.
However with some effort, I learned that he is married to the lovely Lara Wechsler, and they have a daughter,
Alma, who was born this past May. He also divulged that he nearly quit football
a couple of years ago when his mother became very ill. However, with her
blessing, he continued, and now she is healthy again, too. I think what makes
him different from the “big” stars who score comparable amounts of goals is his
philosophy: “The most important thing in life, when you leave football, is to
be a good person and have people who love you.” He is so grounded and keeps his
life so simple, and I believe that is one of his biggest keys to his success.
One criticism of Pipita is that he misses big in big games. Which, as
a player who represents Argentina, is just par for the course, really. As one of only three players ever to represent Argentina despite being born outside of the country, he has
31 goals for Argentina in 75 appearances, and has represented his country in
three different World Cups and three Copa America tournaments, coming in second
at one of each. Consider that, unlike our cugini's Argentine striker, he actually gets called up for his country. Plus, I don’t see this as much as a problem that inflicts him as much
as a mentality that impacts all of the players who play for Argentina. And
certainly his goal counts show that he is very, very consistent. Something we’ve
desperately needed for a long time in a striker. Now he can mentor Cutrone,
as well, he might just be our perfect player right now.
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| Playing for Coach Maradona in 2010 |
Bringing Higuain to Milan was enough for many fans to forget
Leonardo’s sordid past (but not me, I’m still watching you, snake.) And with
good reason. He is a tremendously solid striker capable of scoring and creating
goals in the double digits like we have needed for so long. He brings
confidence to fans and stability to a position that has been rotating players
through like members of Donald Trump’s cabinet. He’s like the star striker we
needed, but without all of the drama. Most importantly, however, he is a marksman,
skilled and ready to fire on target at will. It’s no surprise he is considered
our signing of the season, and I hope that he feels at home here and will stay
and guide Milan to much success in the future.
This post inspired by the music of
Front 242’s “Headhunter”