Toni: 'Higuain in world's best four'

By Football Italia staff

Luca Toni believes Douglas Costa can inspire Gonzalo Higuain to Capocannoniere status. “He’s one of the four best centre-forwards in the world.”

Former hitman Toni was a director at Hellas Verona last term, but left after their promotion into Serie A and gave his predictions to Tuttosport, tipping the Juventus star for Capocannoniere.

“Someone like Pipita will always score a lot of goals. We’re talking about a great centre-forward, one of the four best in the world along with Luis Suarez, Robert Lewandowski and Karim Benzema. It’s not like he was a one-off, he has been scoring 25-30-35 goals per season for a while.

“I’d rather have Higuain with an extra kg or two in August who ends up scoring 30-35 goals rather than strikers with perfect abs who have 10 goals by May. Gonzalo has goals in the blood. It’ll be difficult for him to beat the record of 36 Serie A goals he set with Napoli, because at a big club you need to take time out to be at your best for the Champions League nights, but in all competition he can reach 40 goals.

“Douglas Costa can be for Higuain what Franck Ribery was for me at Bayern Munich. I do see something of Franck in him, as there are players who enjoy setting up their teammates more than scoring by themselves.

“Pipita has Paulo Dybala too and it can be his definitive year to step up a level. I don’t think even he realises how good he is. If Dybala really steps up, he can be a contender for the Ballon d’Or with Neymar and Kylian Mbappé over the next few years.

“It’s a three-way fight for the Capocannoniere crown this season between Mauro Icardi, Higuain and Edin Dzeko. I hope that Andrea Belotti gets in there too, as he is the best Italian striker. I also wish Giampaolo Pazzini gets 15 goals, so he can save Verona.

“I haven’t forgotten Dries Mertens, I simply believe he’ll divide up the Napoli goals with Jose Callejon and Lorenzo Insigne.”

Toni was asked to create his ideal Number 9.

“I’d include Belotti’s grit, Icardi’s movement in the box, the technique of Higuain and the power of Dzeko. For someone like that, you’d pay even more than the €222m for Neymar.

“The key to being a hitman is to be hungry, always. When you score a brace in a game, you don’t rest on your laurels, you push for the third or the fourth. You never want to rest or be substituted or give away a tap-in to someone else. That’s what I was like.”

Watch Serie A live in the UK on Premier Sports for just £9.99 per month including live LaLiga, Eredivisie, Scottish Cup Football and more. Visit: https://www.premiersports.com/subscribenow