He's got a pretty defined teardrop muscle in that pic, so I guess he still has a lot of power in those legs. He has always been a bit on the chubby side, hasn't he? Bet he is going to look like a balloon just a year after he retires.

Some footballers tend to get a bit chubby in the off season since they indulge themselves while not having any physical activity for a few months. Sol Campbell used to return every season looking like he'd eaten half of North London. It's obviously not going to be a handicap once the season starts.

How do they even have time to add weight like that though? Higuain played Copa America too, so he can't have had more than 4 weeks or so off. Even during their holidays I would be amazed if pro footballers didn't have their individual training regimes they are supposed to adhere to as well. Even if he has only added 10 pounds or so, that's still a LOT in roughly a month, and especially so if he has still been required to follow a training regime.

Mirth, you're talking as if Higuain was in shape during the season. He's like that in October and he's like that in May.

Ricky1985 wrote:

Mirth, you're talking as if Higuain was in shape during the season. He's like that in October and he's like that in May.

He's not though. Granted he's no Ronaldo but he doesn't often play with a beer belly. He was, however, top goal scorer in the league.

If this was actually a legitimate concern, Juventus wouldn't spend £70m on him.

His conditioning is a joke. He gets away with it because he's good at what he does, but there's no way it doesn't have a negative effect on his performance. Every picture I saw of him last season he had more body fat than he should have. Considerably so.

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis last season:

"We lost today, but it wasn't manager's Maurizio Sarri's fault. For example Higuaín, he should lose at least a kilo. It's like he's walking around with stones in his pockets. He's way too fat. He should get back to the shape he was in a month ago, then he'll start scoring again as well."

It's clearly something he has a problem with.

And De Laurentiis is largely the reason Higuain is turning out for Juventus - they clearly don't get along and that goes beyond Higuain's body fat %. Incidentally he's pretty obviously in better shape there than he is in the image Bryant posted above.

Higuain looks no more out of shape than Rooney or Cazorla ever have. As I say, his weight is clearly not a significant detriment to his performances since he's just broken the record for most goals in a single Serie A season. And Juventus wouldn't make him the third most expensive transfer of all time either.

Maybe you're right and it's something he struggles with on a personal level despite the level of support he gets around him. In which case there's nothing you can do about it and you'd still be better off focusing on what he can do.

Rooney's been shit for years now and has also been overweight and out of shape for years too - and United still pay him 300k a week.

He's in marginally better shape in the picture I posted (although white clothing is a fat person's foe!), but still clearly carrying fat on his belly that a top footballer in 2016 should not be.

He's obviously good enough to overcome it and still perform but I can't take him seriously because it's obvious, at least to me, he'd perform better if he were in top condition or even good condition.

http://en.as.com/en/2016/08/13/football/1471085120_256819.html

Ricky1985 wrote:

Rooney's been shit for years now and has also been overweight and out of shape for years too - and United still pay him 300k a week.

He's in marginally better shape in the picture I posted (although white clothing is a fat person's foe!), but still clearly carrying fat on his belly that a top footballer in 2016 should not be.

He's obviously good enough to overcome it and still perform but I can't take him seriously because it's obvious, at least to me, he'd perform better if he were in top condition or even good condition.

Rooney has actually been leaner than a few years ago.

Higuain scored the winner in his debut for Juve, 9 minutes after coming on and 5 minutes after Fiorentina had equalised. Scrappy goal but they all count the same. He seemed to be in good shape too.

AC Milan vs Torino now, Romagnoli starting, boom.

http://www.footballwatchers.co.uk/ Scroll down for a stream.

Ljajic off with an injury, can produce some magic moments when in the mood, shame, because this game has been a little slow.

AC 1-0, BACCA with a diving header.

Niang can be a really really good footballer if he wasn't so thick. If you look at his raw attributes he's superb: Very quick, he looks like he's always in control of the ball, he's tall and has good acceleration with and without the ball.

If he could only make better choices we'd see a superb baller.

Big big save in the last minute of the match from the 16 year old keeper.