Gonzalo Higuain may be the Inter Miami squad's biggest name but manager Phil Neville has reportedly made the bold decision to axe the star ahead of their next match.
After cutting a frustrated figure during the Florida outfit's first five games of the new MLS season, Higuain was absent from their last match through a 'knee injury'. But after Miami recorded their first win of the campaign against New England Revolution and his replacement - on-loan Wolves striker Leonardo Campana - scored a hat-trick, it has been claimed by the Sun that the former Real Madrid, Chelsea and Napoli striker is unhappy with life under Neville and will not feature against Seattle Sounders on Sunday.
Higuain's omission comes after he underestimated how tough MLS would be, admitting on Christian Vieri 's Twitch channel, Bobo TV : "I thought I would come here and play with a cigarette in my mouth and, instead, it is difficult. It is a tough league. I learned that it is similar to Italian football. In Spain and England it is easier to do well, while in Italy, if you do not know the league, you suffer."
Television cameras caught the 34-year-old looking glum as Campana scored his second goal last Saturday, earning David Beckham 's franchise a much-needed three points. In a thinly-veiled dig at Higuain, Neville went on to heap praise on Campana post-match by saying: "He played a lot freer without Gonzalo in the team because he was the man.
"Sometimes centre forwards need to be that person everyone looks to and relies on for goals. What we saw Saturday was somebody willing to take on that mantle of being the main guy, the main No.9 on the team. With four goals already this season, he's someone that's going to be really exciting."
Despite being out of favour under Neville, Higuain - said to be earning £5.45million a year - cannot be offloaded by Miami mid-season. The Argentina international struggled to strike up any chemistry with fellow top-earner Rodolfo Pizarro last season and even though the Mexican has now left, issues remain rife in Fort Lauderdale.
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Having begun the term with a goalless draw at home to Chicago Fire, they went on to lose their next four games. Boasting the likes of Higuain, Blaise Matuidi and Kieran Gibbs, Neville and co find themselves rooted to the bottom of the Eastern Conference ahead of their trip to Seattle.
Although the ex- Manchester United and Everton defender will not have worry about the threat of relegation from MLS, Neville is well aware the standards must be upped on the east coast. "What we saw on Saturday was 11 players plus the three subs all headed in the same direction, working hard, staying together, sticking to the game plan," the former England women boss declared.
"And that's going to be the order of the day from now until the end of the season. We've found a formula now that is non-negotiable."
