Hamsik: Beating Higuain´s Juve would be a bonus

Napoli captain Marek Hamsik says it would be “a tasty bonus” to defeat Juventus on home soil following the transfer of Gonzalo Higuain.

The Argentina striker joined the reigning champions in a Serie A record deal worth €90million, after scoring 91 goals in 146 appearances in three years at the San Paolo.

The move was the high point of a strong transfer window for Juve, in which they have offset the world-record sale of Paul Pogba to Manchester United with the signings of Higuain, Miralem Pjanic, Dani Alves, Medhi Benatia and Marko Pjaca.

Massimiliano Allegri’s side are firm favourites to land a sixth league title in a row, but Hamsik insists that Napoli are ready to sustain a challenge this season, while he would consider a first victory at Juventus Stadium on October 30 a real highlight.

“I dream of winning the Scudetto with the captain’s armband and hopefully I’ll achieve that dream,” he told Radio Kiss Kiss.

“I tell the fans that we are strong. I know that our supporters lost an idol in Higuain, but the team proved that it’s still alive and kicking, it will give its best and play the same scintillating style of football as last year.

“I tell them not to worry, because Manolo Gabbiadini and Arek Milik are great players and we’ll have a wonderful season. There are very high expectations. Napoli must always aim high and hope to improve on last year’s position.

“Juventus haven’t won the Scudetto yet. This will be a long marathon that begins on Sunday [at Pescara] and we want to get off to a stronger start than last season, when we dropped a few too many points.

“It would be fun to win for the first time at the Juventus Stadium, especially in front of Higuain. We can call that a tasty bonus.”