Eden Hazard has advised Chelsea teammate Michy Batshuayi to consider leaving Chelsea in search for regular first team football.
The ex-Marseille striker was signed for £33 million in July 2016 – but has failed to nail down a regular first-team spot in Antonio Conte’s side.
Batshuayi has only scored once in 17 Premier League appearances and has not started a league match this season. Although his impressive statistics suggest otherwise, he has fallen out of favour with the club’s head coach.
In Diego Costa’s absence, Conte has on occasions opted for Eden Hazard to feature in a ‘false nine’ role instead of selecting the Belgian.
The 23-year old had drawn comparisons to one of his predecessors, Didier Drogba, for his speed, strength, positioning & link-up play – but he has rarely had the opportunity to divulge that to Chelsea supporters or even Conte.
Although his fellow countryman Hazard believes he can thrive in the side of the champions elect, he had advised Batshuayi to start considering a summer move if there is no change in his current predicament.‘
“The advice I give to any player who lacks playing time is you have to play,” Hazard told Belgian outlet DH, as reported by the Metro.
“He must try to play more at Chelsea. Or he finds another club to bounce back. It is not easy, he had a good season in Marseille, a season with being able to play and score.
“But it will serve as an experiment. I get along very well with him, I wish him to rediscover the pleasure of playing, scoring goals as he has been able to do for several years, be it at Standard [Liege] or Marseille. He has this quality: He is a great striker.”
