Napoli treating Higuain as a traitor after record transfer
ROME (AP) - A traitor. A mercenary. An ingrate.
Napoli fans have no shortage of insulting words when it comes to describing Gonzalo Higuain, the striker who transferred to rival Juventus for an Italian-record 90 million euros ($100 million) after scoring 36 goals last season to break a 66-year-old Serie A record.
So it will be interesting to see what type of reception Higuain gets from his former teammates when he faces his old club for the first time as Napoli visits Juventus on Saturday.
"I'll greet him like a father does with a son who has really (ticked) him off," Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri said.
Napoli forward Dries Mertens, one of Higuain's best friends when they played together, was asked if he would prepare a "trick" to celebrate Halloween.
"No. At most, I'll give him a slap," Mertens said with a laugh.
Napoli fans are banned from attending the match for security reasons. That may prevent replicating a scene like when Luis Figo returned to face Barcelona after transferring to Real Madrid in 2000 and a pig's head was thrown onto the field.
Juventus doesn't visit Napoli until April.
Other strikers have left Napoli at the height of their powers in recent years - namely Edinson Cavani and Ezequiel Lavezzi, who went to Paris Saint-Germain - but the fact that Higuain moved to the club's fiercest domestic competitor has sparked more outrage.
With 71 league goals in 104 Serie A matches for Napoli the past three seasons, Higuain's popularity in Naples was beginning to approach that of Diego Maradona, his fellow Argentine who led Napoli to its only two league titles in 1987 and 1990.
When the transfer was announced in July, Napoli fans publicly threw their Higuain shirts, banners and scarves into the trash.
Outside the San Paolo Stadium at Napoli matches this season, vendors sell toilet paper with Higuain's image printed on it.
"He prefers the money to our love," read a headline in Naples' Il Mattino newspaper after the transfer.
The artisans on Naples' famed San Gregorio Armeno Street placed placards in the hands of Higuain's Christmas figurine that read, "I'm a traitor" and "I'm a mercenary."
Higuain was lambasted for performing medical exams with Juventus in secret in Madrid.
"Neapolitans were met with betrayal this summer," Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis said. "(Higuain's) brother (and manager) told me in February that he wanted to leave because there were no other stars in our squad besides him."
Higuain attempted to calm the tensions before the season started by thanking Napoli's fans for supporting him the past three years, but that only seemed to cause more problems.
Ten games into the season, Juventus holds a four-point lead over third-place Napoli.
Higuain enters on a four-match scoring drought in all competitions, while Napoli has struggled to replace him at center forward.
With seven goals in eight matches in all competitions, newly signed Poland forward Arkadiusz Milik was filling in quite nicely until he severely injured his left knee.
Manolo Gabbiadini, who had performed well as a backup to Higuain the past two seasons, struggled to replace Milik, then was suspended for two matches for a reaction foul last weekend.
As a result, Sarri has been relying on a three-man forward line with Lorenzo Insigne and Jose Callejon flanking Mertens. The trio has been labeled the "piccoli" line for the players' small stature.
"We don't have a natural striker right now and we've got to adapt," Sarri said.
Besides Higuain's recent troubles, Juventus has its own injury problems in attack with Paulo Dybala and Marko Pjaca each out for several weeks.
Higuain started the season with six goals in seven Serie A matches but hasn't scored since. He struggled again in a 4-1 win over Sampdoria on Wednesday.
"Higuain will score again soon, and by the end of the season he'll have scored many," Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri said.
A goal against Napoli would be difficult for his former fans to digest.
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Follow AP Sports Writer Andrew Dampf on Twitter: www.twitter.com/asdampf