Inter Miami deal with Gonzalo Higuain would make him highest-paid player in MLS
Inter Miami had trouble scoring again on Saturday night, falling 2-1 on the road at Orlando City.
But the club is about to make a massive investment in its attack.
Former Juventus forward Gonzalo Higuain is expected to earn at least $7 million per year from Inter Miami, which would make him the highest-paid player in Major League Soccer.
Italian journalist Nicolo Schira reported that Higuain signed a two-year deal through 2022 and would make $8.8 million but did not specify if that was just base salary or included other compensation. A league source said the salary is closer to $7 million. The 32-year-old Argentine also reportedly got a $2 million exit payout from Juventus to cover the final year of his contract.
Inter Miami has not officially announced Higuain’s signing, but co-owner Jorge Mas posted a photo with Higuain at Miami International Airport and coach Diego Alonso confirmed the player is in town, undergoing medical exams and that he hoped he would join the squad soon.
The Los Angeles Galaxy’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic was the highest-paid MLS player in 2019 with an annual base salary and guaranteed compensation of $7.2 million, according to numbers released by the MLS Players Association. Toronto midfielder Michael Bradley made $6 million base, $6.5 million total) followed by Toronto forward Jozy Altidore ($4.9M base, $6.3M total).
Higuain was one of the world’s top scorers between 2008 and 2018 with 226 goals for Real Madrid, Napoli and Juventus, which paid Napoli a $99 million transfer fee to get him in 2016. He spent 2019 on loan with Chelsea before returning to Juventus.
He scored eight goals and had four assists in 32 games in 2019-20. He also scored 31 goals in 75 games with the Argentine national team.
Higuain arrived in Miami last Thursday and must quarantine up to 10 days per MLS COVID-19 protocol. He will probably not be ready for the Sept. 19 game at Atlanta United, but may make an appearance at home Sept. 23 against New York Red Bulls.
The team could use his help. All seven of Miami’s losses have been by a single goal.
Against Orlando City on Saturday, Inter Miami (2-7-2) scored an own goal and got a second-half goal from Brek Shea in a testy game.
Miami struggled early and defender Andres Reyes had a bad clearance on a free kick that bobbled into the net for an own goal.
Coach Diego Alonso made halftime adjustments, bringing in Shea and Dylan Nealis for Victor Ulloa and Mikey Ambrose, who was an early-game sub for Ben Sweat, who left the game after getting knocked in the head. Alonso said Sweat was feeling better by the end of the game.
A rejuvenated Miami team played much better in the second half. Shea, the 6-3 long-haired former U.S. national team player, tied the game 1-1 in the 65th minute on a leaping header off a perfect cross from Rodolfo Pizarro.
It was Shea’s first goal in two and a half years.
Shea, a journeyman who played for Orlando City in 2015-16, injured his knee last summer and began this season training with Inter Miami’s USL team, Fort Lauderdale CF. He was brought up to the MLS team on June 25 and has been a strong addition to the left side of the attack.
“Obviously, I had been out for quite some time with the injury, so I’m just happy to be back, staying healthy and trying to do my part to help the team,” Shea said. “I’m very frustrated with the result, but there’s some positives to take from it.”
“It was a game of two halves,” Alonso. “I did not like the first half. We didn’t attack, didn’t defend, didn’t play well in the middle. We didn’t look like us. The second half was completely different.”
An unmarked Mauricio Pereyra scored the game-winner for Orlando in the 69th minute.
Inter Miami thought it had an equalizing penalty opportunity in the 73rd minute, but the PK and a red card on Orlando’s Rodrigo Schlegel were negated after an offside call on Miami.
Up to 7,500 tickets (30 percent of the stadium capacity) were made available for the game and the most loyal of Miami’s fans took advantage. Members of all three supporter groups – Southern Legion, Vice City 1896 and The Siege – made the trip.
“Coming out for warmups and hearing our fans louder than theirs was a really good feeling,” said Inter Miami forward Juan Agudelo. “To see how many people made the trip was amazing.”
“It’s awesome, a dream come true,” said Julio Cesar Enriquez of Miami, a member of the Southern Legion supporters’ group who rode up with in a 15-passenger van. “It’s sad we have to drive four hours to someone else’s stadium to see our team, but we’ll go wherever we have to go.”
This story was originally published September 13, 2020 at 10:53 AM.