Higuain motivated by ‘fat’ comments
Gonzalo Higuain has hit back at suggestions he is out of shape after scoring on his Serie A debut for Juventus. Juve splashed out a reported €90million to prise Higuain away from the Stadio San Paolo and the 28-year-old began to pay back some of that fee with the winning goal in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Fiorentina. However, his performance was overshadowed by criticism of his physique, with some media outlets suggesting he was carrying a few extra pounds, something he refutes and says gives him motivation to prove others wrong.
Cavani vows to improve strike rate
Edinson Cavani has vowed to improve his strike rate after failing to convert any of the opportunities that came his way in Paris Saint-Germain’s win over Metz. With Zlatan Ibrahimovic having departed the French capital Cavani has assumed a more central role in Unai Emery’s side, but his first appearance of the Ligue 1 campaign did not go to plan. Although PSG cruised to a 3-0 victory over Metz thanks to second-half strikes from Lucas Moura, Layvin Kurzawa and Marco Verratti – who saw an injury-time cross deflected in by Jonathan Rivierez – Cavani missed a host of chances.
Ancelotti impressed by fit-again Martinez
Carlo Ancelotti has been impressed by the form of fit-again Bayern Munich star Javi Martinez as the new Bundesliga season approaches. The versatile Spain international, able to play in defence and midfield, has seen his career in Germany continually interrupted by injury since moving to Bavaria from Athletic Bilbao in 2012. The 27-year-old started just 11 league games last season due to knee trouble, having ruptured his cruciate ligament in a separate incident in 2014.
Taarabt eager to make Marseille switch
Adel Taarabt is hoping to leave Benfica to relaunch his career and is already eying a move to Marseille. Taarabt joined the Lisbon club last year from QPR following a loan spell at AC Milan but has fallen out of favour. The 27-year-old is desperate to move on and eager to return to France, the country where he grew up and started his career with Lens. Taarabt has a reputation for lacking the application to match his undoubted ability but the former Tottenham attacking midfielder insists his freezing out at the Estadio da Luz is through no fault of his own.
