Premier League: Italian interior minister Matteo Salvini brands Gonzalo Higuain 'mercenary' for leaving Milan to join Chelsea

Milan: Italy’s interior minister Matteo Salvini on Monday branded Argentina international Gonzalo Higuain a “mercenary” for leaving AC Milan for Premier League club Chelsea. [caption id=“attachment_5976341” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Matteo Salvini. Reuters[/caption] “I’m glad that Higuain has gone and I hope we’ll never see him again in Milan because he really behaved in an unworthy manner,” Salvini, a staunch AC Milan supporter, told Italian radio. “I don’t like mercenaries in politics or football,” continued Salvini, who is also Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister. Higuain was loaned early in the season to AC Milan from Juventus following Cristiano Ronaldo’s arrival in Turin. But the 31-year-old failed to settle in at his new club and scored just six goals in 15 league games. Last week, he joined his former Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri in Chelsea, still on loan, with Polish striker Krzysztof Piatek arriving in Milan in his place on a four-year deal. “I like (Krzysztof) Piatek very much, plus he has an EU passport!” said Salvini. Salvini had already taken Higuain to task after a red card received by the Argentine against Juventus in November. “It is shameful, unworthy behaviour, I hope it will be heavily penalised,” said the leader of the right-wing anti-immigration Lega Nord party, who has also in the past criticised coach Gennaro Gattuso’s tactics.