Gonzalo Higuain explains 'difficult' decision to join Juventus from Napoli | OneFootball

Gonzalo Higuain has confessed that he felt he had achieved all he could at Napoli when he made his controversial move to Juventus in 2016.

The Argentine broke Serie A's scoring record with 36 goals in 35 games during the 2015/16 season but Napoli still finished nine points behind eventual league champions Juventus, who triggered his release clause to sign Higuain for around £75m that summer.

The transfer was hugely criticised by many, with some fans attacking Higuain for leaving Juve's biggest rivals to join a side who had won five consecutive titles and would go on to lift another four before eventually being toppled in 2020.

"It was very difficult for me to make the decision, because I knew everything it was going to bring, but at no time did I doubt it," Higuain confessed to TyC Sports. "There was no reason not to go.

"It all started with a realisation. I broke the record of 36 goals in a season, we had a great team that played great and we couldn't be champions. What more could we do?

"Juventus came in and them paying the €94m clause to sign me was an honour and a reward for what I had done."

Higuain left with love for Napoli but was met with a wave of criticism from fans, many of whom abused the striker for his departure, and he admitted that resentment inspired him to seek revenge against the Partenopei on the pitch.

"The hate, the resentment and the insults came back to bite them because in eight games, I scored six goals against them," Higuain recalled.

"I chose well, because in my first season we reached the Champions League final, the only time I was able to play in one."

Higuain spent two years as Juve's starting striker before Cristiano Ronaldo joined the club in 2018, prompting a loan to AC Milan which was cut short in January as the striker opted to reunite with Napoli boss Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea.

, and eventually ended up joining Inter Miami in 2020.