Consistent decline suggests Higuain would not be an upgrade on Morata for Chelsea

While Chelsea returned to winning ways against Newcastle, it was a somewhat laboured victory with a recurring issue again holding the Blues back.

Star man Eden Hazard was given the task of leading the line, nominally at least, once more but the Belgian struggled to make any great impact, mustering just one shot (off target) over his 87 minutes on the pitch.

It was the fifth league game that the 28-year-old had started in a centre forward role this season, averaging just two shots per game in that time - dropping from 3.3 per game when starting from the left. Not only does the position seem to restrict Hazard’s skillset, but he clearly isn’t a long term solution to a problem that has persisted for some time.

Olivier Giroud continues to be overlooked by Maurizio Sarri, with just six Premier League starts to his name this season, while Alvaro Morata is tipped to move on this month as the club look to find a new leading man.

One player whose name continues to crop up more than any other is that of Gonzalo Higuain, with the Blues apparent interest in the Argentine pre-dating Sarri’s appointment but only intensifying since.

Approaches have reportedly been made to bring the striker in from Juventus, though the Serie A champions would need to cancel the existing loan contract with AC Milan in order to ship Higuain out on a similar deal to Stamford Bridge.

Sarri’s desire to reunite with the former Napoli hitman is understandable given the tune he got out of the South American during their time together in Italy. The two were only together for one season but it proved to be a record breaking one for Higuain, becoming the first player in the league’s history to score 36 goals in a single 38-game campaign.

Three years on, however, now 31-years old, the striker’s decline since then is unsurprisingly cause for concern for a number of Chelsea fans.

Higuain’s first season at Juventus was undoubtedly a big success, scoring 24 times on route to the title, but a drop off to 16 the year after saw the club reassess their options. When the opportunity to sign Cristiano Ronaldo arose they needed no hesitation, recognising that while Higuain’s form was dipping, the Portuguese’s - two years his senior - was showing little sign of abating.

The loan move to Milan was a big deal in it’s own right in Italy, but completely overshadowed by Ronaldo’s arrival and for good reason on reflection. Higuain’s downturn has only accelerated after all, with a modest six-goal haul in the league this season.

In fact, when looking at his statistics compared to those of Morata - much maligned and clearly lacking in confidence at Chelsea - there’s very little between the two.

Higuain has one more league strike and remains ahead by one when factoring in each player’s Europa League exploits. Morata, however, has had to make do with significantly less playing time, meaning his strike rate is actually the stronger of the two - netting at a respectable rate of a goal every 168 minutes.

The AC Milan striker has taken over 216 minutes to find the net by comparison, while his conversion rate (10.4 per cent) and shot accuracy (32.5 per cent) are also inferior to those of Morata (13 per cent and 37 per cent respectively).

Higuain’s hold up play may be superior, providing two assists this season and creating significantly more chances but, a modest WhoScored.com rating 6.95 across the league and Europa League is certainly nothing to write home about.

As much as Sarri’s potential to get the best from the former clinical finisher offers encouragement, Higuain’s plight since the two last linked up would suggest that any such reunion would be a risk worth avoiding.