Gonzalo Higuain is happy at Napoli and wants to stay despite rumors to the contrary

When a club has a rough start to the season like this, it's inevitable that the "Player X is frustrated and hates everything and is ready to quit the team" stories start to flow like a river of vitriol. In the case of Napoli this season, the focus of those stories has been Gonzalo Higuain, who after the Udinese match was visibly angry as he left the pitch.

Of course, there's a huge step between "angry after an upsetting loss" and "I'm quitting the team as soon as you find a good buyer." As is so often the case with these stories, Higuain not only hasn't made that leap yet, it sounds like he's not even close.

Sky Italia talked to Higuain about how he felt about things yesterday, asking him to respond to rumors that he was upset with the club and didn't want to stay in Naples any longer. "Am I happy to play for Napoli? This is a fantastic city to play football," he told them. "I came here gladly and it is a marvelous city."

Higuain also seemed to understand the nature of fan emotions and pressure, especially at a club like Napoli where expectations run high. "This is a city like any other," he explained, "so when you do well there is exaggerated praise and when you do badly there is exaggeration the other way." Those kinds of swings can be hard to deal with for some players, but Higuain had spent his whole career at Real Madrid before joining Napoli; the swings he's seen at Napoli are nothing in comparison to what he's used to.

There were also rumors of Liverpool lining things up to try to buy Higuain in either January or next summer, and that Pipita badly wanted to join them. Higuain laughed those off for how patently ridiculous they were; with Daniel Sturridge and Mario Balotelli in hand, Liverpool aren't signing another big-name striker any time soon, and even if they wanted to they probably can't afford to thanks to Financial Fair Play.

So despite rumors to the contrary, Higuain appears to be happy to be in Naples and is ready to help the team race back up the table. Time for the rumor mongers to find a new target.