Higuain benched vs. Juventus amid reported Chelsea talks

AC Milan will line up for the Supercoppa Italiana clash with Serie A champions Juventus without striker Gonzalo Higuain.

Gennaro Gattuso named Higuain on the bench for Rossoneri's bout with his parent club on Wednesday.

The news comes as talks continue over a loan move to Chelsea, according to Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano.

It was reported earlier on Wednesday that Milan had announced the Argentine, currently on loan at Milan from Juventus, had been suffering from a fever.

However, Romano seems to suspect that could have been a mere smokescreen by Milan, a way to deflect attention from the 31-year-old's apparent impending departure.

Reports earlier this week suggested Juventus, who still hold the key to Higuain's future, had rejected an initial loan offer from Chelsea. The Telegraph's Matt Law suggests the move is being held up by various payments Milan had agreed to make to their Serie A rivals, as well as the desire for an option to make the loan permanent.