Gonzalo Higuain announces retirement

Inter Miami CF and former Argentina international forward Gonzalo Higuain announced his retirement on Monday, concluding a 17-year career that saw him play for some of the world’s biggest clubs including Real Madrid, Juventus, AC Milan and Chelsea.

Higuain, 34, will play out the rest of the season with Miami, which is currently in the playoff positions in Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference with two games left to play.

After initially struggling with Miami this campaign, Higuain has enjoyed a revival down the stretch, scoring 10 goals in his last 11 league appearances, giving him 14 goals and three assists on the season. But despite regaining his form for the Herons, a tearful Higuain told a press conference on Monday morning that he was calling time on his career at the end of the 2022 MLS campaign.

“My biggest motivation is helping my teammates,” Higuain said. “I think the best gift that I can give to my teammates is to be able to retire as a champion with them because they’ve been there with me, they’ve seen me during my downs this year and they’ve helped me throughout this path. Not only players, but physios staff, my brother, my family and this is for all of them as well.

“I want to retire here as a champion, like I deserve to retire and it would be a very special dream. I know there’s two games left and we really hope that the fans come to the stadium and pack the stadium because it’s very important for us. And then once we get to playoffs, the story is different and my dream is to retire as a champion with all my teammates.”

Higuain began his professional career with Argentine giants River Plate in 2005 after progressing through the club’s youth system. He went on to score 15 goals in 41 league and cup appearances.

In 2006, Higuain was transferred to Real Madrid for a fee of $16 million, and after a slow start proved to be a prolific scorer for Los Merengues, scoring 121 goals in 264 appearances in all competitions. He was also part of three LaLiga title-winning teams as well as a Copa del Rey winner in 2011.

Higuain departed after seven seasons in Madrid, moving to Napoli in the summer of 2013 for $53.1m. He continued his goalscoring ways, tallying 91 goals in 146 appearances over three seasons.