Chelsea reported to be confident of buying Higuain for less

Chelsea reported to be confident of buying Higuain for less from Juventus at the end of the season

Chelsea are reportedly confident that Juventus will sell Gonzalo Higuain for less than the agreed price of €36 million if they decide to make the striker's loan deal permanent at the end of the season.

Higuain, 31, has impressed since arriving at Stamford Bridge on loan in January, scoring twice in a 5-0 victory over Huddersfield Town and looking dangerous even with the seemingly bad form Chelsea is in which saw them lost 4-0, 6-0 to Bournemouth and Manchester City respectively in their most recent League games.

The London based club paid around €9m as a loan fee to Juventus in the initial agreement, which includes options to extend Higuain's stay for a further season at the cost of €18m or buy him outright for €36m next summer.

Juventus structured the deal in this way to remove the annual €18m cost of owning Higuain from their accounts, and the Italian giants cannot afford to keep the Argentine after making Cristiano Ronaldo the highest-paid player in Serie A when they signed him from Real Madrid for €100m in July.

The Turin outfit want the full €36m to sell Higuain, but Chelsea believe the Serie A champions' financial commitments mean they will accept a lower price if it is decided that Higuain has a future at Stamford Bridge beyond this season.

According to report, Ronaldo earns €31m per season, three times more than anyone else in Italy's top flight, and is on a four-year contract. Juventus also last week confirmed that they have signed Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey to a deal that will reportedly earn him €7.5m per season.

The final decision on fully purchasing the player is closely based on the future of head coach Maurizio Sarri, whose position has come under scrutiny with a run of three defeats in four Premier League matches that has seen Chelsea slip to sixth in the table and record their heaviest defeat in 28 years.