Chelsea: Michy Batshuayi is fighting to stay and is winning the starting spot

Michy Batshuayi has attacked this preseason determined to be Chelsea’s starting striker under Frank Lampard. His loans paid off and he is ready for the role.

When Chelsea sent Michy Batshuayi on loan to Borussia Dortmund, they split the fan base over what it meant: some viewed it as a mistake, and some an opportunity for him to come back in the future as a better player. That latter appears to be what has happened. Batshuayi is a changed player.

At Marseille he was rough around the edges but had a knack for being around the ball and followed that up withy clinical finishing. Despite his solid debut season with Chelsea in 2016/17, the Belgian lacked the physicality needed to continuously handle the beating from repeated full Premier League seasons.

His first two loans were at extremes. At Dortmund for the 2017/18 season, Batshuayi started nine Bundesliga games and came on for one other, scoring seven times in the league. But the opening of 2018/19 at Valencia did not go to well for Batshuayi, with his productivity dropping lower than any point in his entire career.

His return from Valencia took him to Crystal Palace. Although unplanned, this was a fortunate turn of events as Batshuayi could show what he could do in the Premier League. In his half season at Crystal Palace, he started nine matches and was subbed on twice, netting five goals total.

With this experience under his belt and a lot of desire to stay with the Blues, Batshuayi has shined brightest this preseason. He has shown the effort and energy Frank Lampard has demanded on and off the ball. He is a changed man: hungry, with ferocious appetite for the ball.

In the first two preseason games Batshuayi is dismissing thoughts (such as my own) that I he should go on another loan to build some confidence and form.

And those games were before Christian Pulisic joined the preseason squad. There has to be some sort of lingering chemistry between the two. Three of Pulisic’s seven assists went to Michy Batshuayi, making the American the biggest supplier for Batshuayi’s nine goals in all competitions at Borussia Dortmund.

Pulisic whipping crosses into Batshuayi, Olivier Giroud or Tammy Abraham has to be scary for any team. Every set piece becomes an actual scoring opportunity with heads like theirs in the box, meeting deliveries like the ones Pulisic will send their way.

Michy Batshuayi’s attitude has changed the most – the way he handles himself, he looks as if belongs in the Premier League. Batshuayi again has shown a different kind of energy than he previously displayed at Stamford Bridge.

The combination of Frank Lampard and the absence dominant striker in the squad is allowing Michy Batshuayi to claim that spot. Olivier Giroud is his greatest competition, but age will play a part in that decision. There has never been a better time for the Belgian SpongeBob lover to lead the line for the Blues.

Giroud will struggle to make it past the 70′ with the amount of work Frank Lampard may demand on and off the ball. Giroud will not be content as the back up and will not sit down without a fight.

But Michy Batshuayi is young, hungry and is looking for the top spot, and hungry dogs run faster.