Former Chelsea hero Claude Makelele has slammed Maurizio Sarri for letting Alvaro Morata leave the club and replacing him with Gonzalo Higuaín.

Higuaín ended months of speculation about his future during the January transfer window after Sarri convinced the board to make a move and bring him to the Premier League, but his move has not worked out like many had hoped and the Juventus hitman has only netted four goals in his 12 appearances for the Blues.

His movement, pace and even quality in front of goal is no longer at that world class level and he has failed to adapt to the quality of the Premier League, which is a step above both La Liga and Seria A.

He was signed as an immediate replacement for Morata, who joined Athletic Madrid after a poor start to the season, But Makelele feels his former club were wrong to let the Spain international leave Stamford Bridge.

‘For me, the way I see it I think it depends on the manager and the way he wants to play football,’ Makelele told Stadium Astro.

‘Either with a target man or with a smart player moving, scoring goals, dribbling. We didn’t know exactly what the manager wanted [at the start].

‘He prefers Higuain because he’s more adapted with Hazard and Willian, he had him before, he knows Higuain very well, so he knows the mentality and spirit [of Sarri’s team].

‘But for me, the one is Morata, he’s a real striker. ‘He’s like [Karim] Benzema a little bit, technically soft, scores goals, not selfish, runs, I think he’s quicker than Higuain and Giroud.

‘It’s difficult [to adapt], it was hard to adapt in the beginning, I needed to change the way I played, the second ball there was always contact.

‘It was so different, you need to be a mix of a fighter and playing football one and two touch.

‘I think any manager who buys a player needs to have the identity of the club. ‘He understands why he’s been bought, he needs to be a fighter and play for his teammates.’

Morata was supposed to be the striker that would lead Chelsea into a new era, as he was one of the most highly-rated forwards in the game, but it never quite worked out for him at Stamford Bridge.

But Higuaín was never going to be the answer as the Argentine is no longer the world class striker that could score goals for fun, he has been a massive disappointment for many fans this season.

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