Chelsea loanee Michy Batshuayi out for the remainder of the season
By Travis Tyler
Michy Batshuayi’s successful spell at Dortmund has come to an end due to injury. What does that mean for his World Cup and Chelsea hopes?
At the very end of the Schalke-Dormtund match, a tackle resulted in Batshuayi’s ankle rolling under him. In clear pain, he was taken off on a stretcher. He left the stadium on crutches and it has now been revealed that he suffered ligament damage in his ankle. His season is now over.
Batshuayi departed Chelsea on loan after finding playing time hard to come by under Antonio Conte and the purchase of Olivier Giroud. His loan was largely to establish momentum that he could not at Chelsea. With momentum, he could return and have a much higher chance of breaking through regardless of manager.
His time at Dortmund was largely successful. He showed the same strengths and weakness in yellow as he showed in blue. But the guaranteed playing time helped to showcase his strengths more frequently. He will end his Dortmund campaign with nine goals and an assist in 1169 minutes.
So where does Batshuayi go from here? The World Cup is approaching and he will be a doubt for it. He has not been ruled out yet but it will be a tight recovery timeline. Even if he is not 100 percent when the tournament starts, he is likely to be included if he is fit.
The next big question is what does it mean for his Chelsea career. He did incredibly well while at Dortmund, as he had with limited minutes with the Blues. But he also showed plenty of the same faults. If he is not being provided service, then he is a passenger throughout the match. His final match against Schalke showed that exactly. He did very little in that match with his teammates unable to help him.
Batshuayi is not a striker who can create on his own. He needs teammates to play off of and he needs to have them providing passes that he can pounce on. Without that, he is not able to influence the match. This was also seen during his time with Chelsea and was a large part of why he failed to establish himself over out of form or injured strikers.
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When he returns, Alvaro Morata is still going to be first choice. Olivier Giroud will have a year left on his contract and will remain the backup at least at first. Regardless of who is manager, if Chelsea are only using one striker, Batshuayi will have to settle for third choice to begin with.
If Chelsea use two strikers, Batshuayi has a much better chance of breaking into the squad. But he will still likely begin as a bench player. Would Batshuayi be willing to try to fight his way into Chelsea again?
There is also the matter of Chelsea being extremely cautious with injured players in recent seasons. Most players returning from long term injury have either been loaned out for playing time or have slowly been brought back into the first team. Dortmund would surely take Batshuayi for another season and that may be the best way for him to recover and kill time as Giroud’s contract runs out.
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This injury is a set back on what has otherwise been a promising spell for the Belgian. If he can recover in time for the World Cup, he can begin to answer questions about his destination next season more clearly.