Michy Batshuayi has made a complete U-turn, pulling off a Willian 2.0 stunt by rejecting Spurs and Crystal Palace after the latter had a £31.5 million bid for the Belgian accepted just a couple of days back, but the 22-year-old has decided he wants to join Conte’s Chelsea instead.
A fee in the region of €40 million (£33 million) was agreed a couple of days back and Chelsea made the news official yesterday. Batshuayi will offer some much-needed pace and power to a depleted Blues firing line, but who is the Belgian international?
What is his background?
Born and raised in Brussels to Congolese parents, Batshuayi joined the Anderlecht academy at 13 after short spells at RFC Evere, RUSA Schaarbeek and Brussels. Released by Anderlecht two years later, Batshuayi returned to Brussels before a move to Standard Liege in 2008.
Batshuayi made his senior debut for the Belgian club three years after he signed, in a game against Gent and made his last appearance of that season six days later.
Ending the 2011/12 season with six goals, Batshuayi went that one step forward and doubled his tally in 2012/13, before what was undoubtedly his finest year for Liege. The 22-year-old netted 21 times in 2013/14—recording his very first professional hat-trick and awarded the unique Ebony Shoe Award for the season’s best player of African origin.
His spell at Liege was not without its fair share of indiscipline. He was sent off for stamping on a player’s chest in a 3-2 defeat to Gent and subsequently banned for four games. Five months later, he was once again dismissed for elbowing a player and received a two game ban and fined €200.
Marseille acquired the Belgian for a measly £4.5 million in August 2014 but took just over two-and-a-half months to score his first goal in a 2-1 defeat to Rennes. He netted nine times for Marseille in 2014/15 despite Marcelo Bielsa rarely starting the starlet.
Batshuayi scored a brace in Marseille’s 6-0 demolition of Troyes to earn his first goals of the season. It was to be a very positive start for the Belgian, netting eleven times at the half-way mark of the season, only behind the brilliance of PSG’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic in a struggling Marseille side that were sent into shockwaves after Bielsa’s abrupt resignation in August.
Batshuayi ended the campaign with 17 goals, a highly-respectable tally considering he was playing in a Marseille side that finished 10th with an average supporting cast. Crystal Palace had a bid of £31.5 million that was accepted by the French club but Chelsea intervened, a move which the player was much more interested in and left the EURO 2016 squad to take a Chelsea medical.
2015/16 stats
Batshuayi netted 17 times last term in Ligue 1 from a total of 122 attempts. Dribbling-wise, the 22-year-old made a total of 66 dribbles, with 38 of those being successful. He made 87 unsuccessful touches and was dispossessed 93 times.
Aerially, Batshuayi was very disappointing—winning just 30 aerial duels and losing a total of 78. He made 27 key passes with nine of those converted into a goal.
What type of player is he?
He is a brilliant talent who carried a struggling Marseille side with average players as a supporting cast. At Chelsea, he will have top players in Cesc Fabregas and Eden Hazard creating those openings for him next season.
Batshuayi is a quick and powerful No.9, whose swift bursts of acceleration can harass defenders and completely take them out of the equation at times. Many of Michy’s goals come from instinctive runs in and around the six-yard box, almost Luis Suarez-esque.
What are his strengths?
Batshuayi’s speed is quite an obvious strong point of his game. Some of the taller quick players can’t keep good control of the ball at pace, but good close-control and balance are abilities that the former Standard Liege No.9 possesses.
A deceiving physique, it looks like “Batman” will be just fine dealing with the physicality in the Premier League. The striker, has the strength to easily shrug centre-halves off the ball—much like his Belgian compatriot Romelu Lukaku does on a regular basis at Everton.
He has a flair for sneaking in behind a backline and making those ingenious little runs, a strength that Luis Suarez utilizes so well at Barcelona.
What are his weaknesses?
Conclusion
We are getting ourselves a very talented and ingenious player, a player that can only grow. Michy Batshuayi will be a positive first signing of the Conte era—and I have no doubt in my mind he will be a player that blossoms from the Italian’s tutelage.
