Federico Higuain’s days in Columbus may be numbered, and Gregg Berhalter is preparing for the possibility.
The usually stoic Higuain gave a surprising moment of honesty to the Columbus Dispatch’s Andrew Erickson Thursday, claiming his career with Columbus Crew SC was coming to a close after the season.
“I don’t know what will happen, but I think it’s the finish of the cycle, you know?” Higuain told the Dispatch. “I’m sure the Columbus Crew will not lose too much without me — but maybe another team in or out of the United States will win something.”
The 32-year-old has been an important figure for Columbus since his acquisition in 2012, and is on pace for a career year in 2017 after missing much of 2016 due to a sports hernia and complications from surgery to repair it.
It was that injury and Higuain’s age that prompted some uncertainty from Berhalter as late as November of last year. At the time, he said it was a matter of “evaluating his health and being able to assess if he’s going to be able to perform at his levels,” that would decide whether to bring Higuain back.
But the Argentine returned, and now has nine goals and five assists in his sixth season in MLS. And while Higuain is playing well in his final season under contract, Berhalter said his No. 10’s unrest didn’t come as a surprise, though “hopefully” they can find a way to reconcile.
“This has been a discussion point for the last couple of weeks – maybe a month,” he told MLSsoccer.com Friday by phone. “It’s normal for a player to want to know about his future.”
In the same interview with the Dispatch, Higuain cited the offseason uncertainty, saying he “felt the team brought a lot of doubt about what they would do with me.”
In response, Berhalter said he felt that Higuain wasn’t pleased as being labeled as an injury risk, and said the team doesn’t see him that way at all.
“Federico is a guy who takes fitness extremely seriously,” he said. “He’s a consummate professional, and does everything he can do to be fit and be healthy. … We look at him as an iron man.”
While Berhalter prefers to keep conversations about contracts and player issues private, he said he has no problem with Higuain speaking out, and said it doesn’t affect the locker room at all, where players talk about contracts regardless of their publicity.
“I think every player comes from a different perspective,” he said. “Some are more patient than others with their contracts. Some like things to be handled earlier. If he wants to talk about it now, that’s up to him.”
For now, Berhalter said he’s simply focused on wrapping up business in the summer transfer window and finishing the season strong. And if this season is indeed the end for Higuain, a successful campaign becomes even more important.
“Hopefully he goes out in style,” Berhalter said.
