Chelsea striker Michy Batshuayi is reportedly on his way to Borussia Dortmund. The Belgian striker has been given limited opportunities under manager Antonio Conte despite glowing comparisons to former Blues stars Didier Drogba and Romelu Lukaku.
Since arriving at Chelsea for £33 million in 2016, Batshuayi has made impressive strides. However, this season has shown that Conte has no faith in the player. The Belgian forward has 12 goals in 25 games in all competitions. Only two have come in the Premier League, where Conte has started the striker just three times.
Batshuayi hasn’t been given the opportunity to truly show what he can do at Chelsea. Even with star striker Alvaro Morata finding it difficult to adapt to life in London, Conte has left Batshuayi on the bench.
Batshuayi is a big puzzle piece in a strange transfer triangle that would see Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang move to Arsenal, Olivier Giroud to Stamford Bridge, and Batshuayi head to Dortmund. The Belgian’s move to Germany is merely a six month loan deal, and the odds of the move coming off is around 50% at the start of Wednesday.
Chelsea legend Pat Nevin recently spoke to ChelseaFC.com. He talked about Batshuayi and the club needing to give him a chance.
“Clubs who use stats and Moneyball to figure out who they should buy must look at Michy and think wow,” Nevin stated.
“Only two strikers in the Premier League have a better goals-to-minutes-played ratio than him this season in all competitions, Sergio Aguero, who has scored a goal every 95 minutes, and there is of course Harry Kane.
“Michy is currently on a goal every 100 minutes this season and these are the only three players at or under that number in the top flight of English football.
“Even Mo Salah at Liverpool in the midst of his incredible season is not quite at that level, though he has scored a lot more goals and does add a few assists. It is not to dismiss the brilliance of players like Salah but the stats are weird here.
“Michy has scored more goals than Sadio Mane, Dele Alli, Riyad Mahrez and is level with Marcus Rashford.
“These players are highly regarded in the game. He has also scored more goals this season than any single player has for Arsenal.
“He hasn’t scored that many in the Premier League, but then it is quite hard to score when you aren’t actually on the field.”
Salah is a great example of a player Chelsea gave up. The Egyptian had limited chances to play under Jose Mourinho before leaving for Fiorentina and then Roma. He excelled at both Serie A clubs before joining Liverpool last summer. Batshuayi’s career is on the same trajectory of Salah and former Chelsea striker Lukaku. Both players were given up on early.
The good news is Michy Batshuayi could be back in the summer following the loan deal. His move to Germany could help him become a far more polished striker. But according to Nevin, Chelsea are really missing out on using the youngster.
Is Chelsea’s decision on Michy Batshuayi wise or should the club keep him at Stamford Bridge? Let us know?
