Gattuso wants to keep Higuain at Milan — by locking him up and feeding him
The combative AC Milan boss has made it clear that he would like to keep the Argentinian striker at the San Siro, despite the player's desire for a move to London
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AC MILAN head coach Gennaro Gattuso wants to keep Gonzalo Higuain at the club so much, he’d hide him away in his own house if he could.
The former Italy international was joking when he made the statement to reporters – but it’s clear that he isn’t happy about losing the 31-year-old striker.
Higuain has been strongly linked with a move to Chelsea, where he would join up with his former manager at Napoli, Maurizio Sarri.
The striker is said to be Sarri’s top transfer priority as the Blues look to add a cutting edge to their side – and Gattuso has all but admitted that the player has told him he wants to leave Milan.
The Italian said: "When a player makes up his mind it becomes hard to convince them otherwise.
He added: "I have a relationship with him that features great honesty - we say things to one another's face.
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"At the moment, he's our player and we're holding on tightly to him.
"I don't know what will happen. If it was up to me, I'd keep him at my house and feed him my dinner!"
Higuain had his most successful season while at Napoli under Sarri in 2015-16, equalling the Serie A goalscoring record with 36 goals that year.
The 31-year-old is on a season-long loan at Milan from Juventus, and has scored eight goals in all competitions for the Rossoneri.
A deal to bring the striker to Stamford Bridge would almost certainly hasten the exit of Alvaro Morata, who was not even on the bench for the Blues’ 2-1 victory over Newcastle yesterday.
The Spaniard has attracted interest from Sevilla, Atletico Madrid and even Barcelona despite his unimpressive form while at Chelsea.