by Lewis Ambrose

Transfer stories don’t get much more ridiculous than this one, with Arsenal linked with a huge bid for Gonzalo Higuaín.

The Napoli forward has just finished the Copa América with Argentina, where he missed a last second chance in the final before blasting a penalty over the bar in the shootout, which was eventually settled by Arsenal’s Alexis Sánchez. Argentina lost yet another international final, and Higuaín has a fair amount of the blame to shoulder.

So, naturally, Corriere dello Sport are trying to somehow sell the idea that Arsenal would bid €60M for the player. HA! Even more laughably the Italian outlet say that a bid that high wouldn’t actually get the player to London, with Napoli seeking more money.

Journalist (using that term loosely) Tancredi Palmeri tweeted about a €45M bid on Wednesday afternoon in another desperate attempt for attention and retweets.

Arsenal balked at paying anywhere near that much when Real Madrid were selling the striker two years ago. Since then Arsène Wenger has added Danny Welbeck and Alexis Sánchez to his squad, as well as overseeing the fantastic development of Olivier Giroud. Meanwhile Higuaín’s stock has fallen despite two fairly good years in Serie A.

Labelled as a clinical finisher, Higuaín actually converted a lower proportion of his shots than Giroud last season and his efforts in build up play aren’t anyway near the Frenchman’s.

There is quite simply no way Arsenal are after Higuaín, and certainly not for the figures being thrown about.