Michy Batshuayi bagged a brace against Newcastle United on Sunday afternoon, but Chelsea boss Antonio Conte avoided clearing up his future.
After watching the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool fall foul of the magic of the FA Cup, Chelsea successfully negotiated a potential banana skin on Sunday afternoon. Driven on from their League Cup exit, Antonio Conte picked a strong starting eleven and Michy Batshuayi scored twice en route to a 3-0 win.
The Belgian’s future has been the subject of much scrutiny this January. Conte has shown a horrendous lack of faith in him and thus a midseason exit appears on the cards.
Having said that, Batshuayi has netted three times in his last three starts, potentially tipping the scales back in his favour. Conte was asked about his future after the game, but he simply passed the buck.
"If you see our squad, we don’t have three, four or five strikers, we have two, and Hazard who is a different striker who can play in this way…the club will make the best decision. – via chelseafc.com"
Conte would also go on to indicate that Batshuayi was holding his future in his own hands.
The issue for Chelsea at the moment is that they seem no closer to signing a replacement. A lot has been said about Batshuayi, but the Blues can’t let him go until they have someone lined up to take his spot. Alvaro Morata is the only other recognised striker in the squad and he is currently struggling with form, fitness and personal circumstances.
Batshuayi has turned a few heads over the last week or so. His performance against Norwich in the FA Cup replay was shocking, but he grabbed an important goal. He then impressed against Brighton, without getting on the scoresheet, but that was not enough to start against Arsenal. Chelsea’s performance was poor in the Carabao Cup semi-final as they suffered without a genuine striker up top.
Batshuayi arguably put in his best display for Chelsea against Newcastle. His movement was good and his two goals were just reward.
Conte will now need to decide whether it was enough to change his view on him. With the Blues hierarchy evidently scrambling to sign another striker, Conte cannot afford to go into the second half of the season without a backup he can trust.
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Unfortunately, his response to the appropriate questions indicate that Batshuayi is no more towards the front of the Italian’s mind.