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Three big questions: Chelsea’s Michy Batshuayi and a foot out the door

By Travis Tyler

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 30: Michy Batshuayi of Chelsea runs with the ball past Harry Maguire of Manchester United before scoring his team's first goal during the Carabao Cup Round of 16 match between Chelsea and Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on October 30, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 30: Michy Batshuayi of Chelsea runs with the ball past Harry Maguire of Manchester United before scoring his team's first goal during the Carabao Cup Round of 16 match between Chelsea and Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on October 30, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images) /
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HULL, ENGLAND – JANUARY 25: Michy Batshuayi of Chelsea celebrates with teammates after scoring the first goal of his team during the FA Cup Fourth Round match between Hull City and Chelsea at KCOM Stadium on January 25, 2020 in Hull, England. (Photo by Ashley Allen/Getty Images) /

Chelsea still has Michy Batshuayi on the roster somehow, so what questions can be asked about a player that surely will be gone before the season begins?

When these “three big questions” pieces began, the decision was made to do them in numerical order by kit number. One reason was the day to day variety it offered. Another was that players with higher numbers, like Michy Batshuayi, were sure to leave and doing things numerically was surely enough time to allow for his transfer and thus a piece about him would not need to be written. That plan did not work. So what questions should be asked of a player that is basically (or should be) gone soon?

1. No one seriously expects him to stay, right?

No. Wait, sorry. More has to be said about it than that, though the simple “no” really does suffice.

Batshuayi has 77 appearances for Chelsea. That seems pretty high actually! Then one looks at how many minutes that equates to: 2,428. For comparison’s sake, Reece James in his first Premier League season and with a delayed start due to injury amassed 2,386.

It is a bit surprising, but that is actually more appearances for Chelsea than he has amassed on loan while under contract with the Blues. Then again, he has played more minutes on loan than he actually has for the club.

None of this should really be all that surprising. Batshuayi has been with the club for four seasons and in that time there has never been one moment where he legitimately looked like challenging for a starting spot. Somehow he bookended those four seasons with full seasons at Chelsea but the metrics have always remained the same.

At 26, Batshuayi should be entering his prime as a striker but no one even really knows what he offers. But with the Blues bringing in Timo Werner, extending Olivier Giroud, and having the promising Tammy Abraham, Batshuayi simply has no chance at Chelsea (again). It feels more a matter of when not if he leaves, but despite the window being open for a while now he remains a Blue.

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