Michy Batshuayi never hit the heights expected of him during his initial spell with Chelsea. Despite getting an occasional strike under Antonio Conte, it is clear that the Blues’ under-fire manager considers him surplus to requirements at Stamford Bridge. The recent loan move to Dortmund is one the striker welcomed to increase his game time, and his chances of being a leading striker for Belgium in the 2018 World Cup.
Conte’s decision to leave Batshuayi benched is largely down to the form of his positional rivals, past and present. Diego Costa’s superior finishing prowess had been a key component of Chelsea’s rampant title win of 2016/17. More topically, Alvaro Morata’s good form earlier this season kept Bashuayi out of an immovable one-striker system.
Batshuayi is looking increasingly like becoming yet another Stamford Bridge washout. He could take inspiration from countryman Kevin De Bruyne, and make a better fist of Premier League life in due course, but he has started his loan spell with Borussia Dortmund in promising fashion. Should his life at Signal Iduna Park remain good over the next few months, it could become a permanent move to the Bundesliga giants.
The arrival of Olivier Giroud at Chelsea, in the January transfer window, appears to have ended any chance of Batshuayi becoming a part of Conte’s long-term agenda. Giroud is all experience, but with his advancing years comes an ever-growing sense that he cannot be the 20-goal striker Chelsea truly need to reclaim the Premier League crown.
With his odds of being Belgium’s top scorer at the World Cup drifting at https://www.oddschecker.com, Batshuayi’s next move must be a masterstroke. From a strictly statistical point of view, Batshuayi has no claim to a Premier League future. His Premier League goals-per-game ratio pales badly against current first-choice striker Alvaro Morata, and (obviously) the Diego Costa of last season.
He also loses out in the aerial duel stakes, but all is not lost for Batshuayi, if he ever finds himself under a Premier League manager that prefers to maximise coverage of the final third. With a non-aerial duel win rate of 83.3%, the Belgian beats Morata by a considerable distance in that area. His physique is the catalyst of such an impressive success rate, and with Premier League defenders now considered by some to be unrivalled in overall physical strength, this could be his key to a successful Premier League return – though not necessarily with Chelsea.
Whether it is down to Batshuayi’s lack of ability or Conte’s lack of flexibility can only ever be a matter of opinion. However, it seems clear-cut that Stamford Bridge is not big enough for the two of them. Thus, assuming that Conte loses his job before the start of 2018/19, and Batshuayi is included within the plans of the new man, he would only be an effective point man with close support – possibly within the sort of two-man system that Conte appears loathe to entertain.
With a place in Belgium’s competitive World Cup squad at stake, Batshuayi’s short-term prognosis appears good, and he certainly has the potential to be a Dortmund hero. Beyond the summer transfer window, the outlook becomes murkier. As ever, the links between Europe’s most talented players and a Chelsea move remain plentiful and constant. In recent days, the likes of Dortmund’s Christian Pulisic have even been mooted as part of a potential swap deal.
For Batshuayi to be considered as the outgoing player, for a less-experienced counterpart represents a great indictment of just how far the Belgian has fallen in the esteem of Conte. Though Batshuayi would be a godsend for teams with a clear future and good resources, but no assured survival – Newcastle, for example – it is, undoubtedly, a question of when and not if the Belgian leaves West London for pastures new.
