Higuain agrees bumper €42m Napoli contract

The Serie A runners-up look to have
won the race for the Argentine's
signature after Arsenal failed to
agree a transfer fee with Real
Madrid
By Wayne Veysey | UK correspondent
Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain is
poised to join Napoli after agreeing a
mammoth contract with Rafa Benitez's
side.
The Serie A runners-up had already
settled a €37 million fee with Madrid for
the transfer of the Argentine, but image
rights threatened to derail negotiations
over personal terms.
But those issues were resolved during
negotiations on Tuesday and Higuain will
now pen a five-year, €163,000-per-week
contract worth €42.3m in salary alone.
Napoli's transfer business has been
funded by the €63m sale of Edinson
Cavani to Paris Saint-Germain, and they
have already closed two deals with
Madrid this summer alone.
Defender Raul Albiol and attacker Jose
Maria Callejon have already left Santiago
Bernabeu for the San Paolo, while Dries
Mertens, Pablo Armero and Rafael, among
others, have also joined as Benitez looks
to compensate for the loss of the
Uruguay hitman.
Arsenal had been confident of wrapping
up a deal for Higuain in June, having
negotiated a contract worth €116,000-
per-week with the 25-year-old.
But the Gunners' attempts to finalise a
deal with Madrid hit the buffers after the
Liga runners-up resisted an improved
€26.8m offer.
Arsene Wenger has since turned his
attentions to Liverpool striker Luis Suarez,
with the Londoners submitting a third
offer of £35m plus £7m in add-ons on
Tuesday.
Wenger recently claimed that the club
could afford to pay Wayne Rooney's
wages should the striker leave
Manchester United, but a move for
Suarez has become the Frenchman's
priority.