Chelsea Fan View: Why the Blues should keep Michy Batshuayi

With Alvaro Morata sidelined with a back injury and Willian with a hamstring injury, Antonio Conte had little choice but to start Michy Batshuayi against Newcastle in the FA Cup fifth round tie on Sunday.

With rumours flying around all week that Chelsea hope to sign Roma striker Edin Dzeko, which would possibly mean a loan move for Batshuayi, it was typical that the apparently unwanted Belgian would score. A timely reminder of his value to the squad perhaps?

It was no coincidence that with Willian and Morata absent, as when Pedro and Morata had been absent against Brighton, Batshuayi looked far more comfortable playing with Hazard and Pedro alongside him rather than as a target man, tasked with holding the ball up on his own.

Perhaps Batshuayi’s new-found effectiveness and improvement is simply a question of more minutes on the pitch. With two starts against Norwich in the FA Cup added to the start against Brighton recently, he has racked up some much needed miles in the legs and sharpness in the brain. Or perhaps it is just that Newcastle, like Brighton, were poor opponents on the day.

To say that Chelsea strolled past Newcastle would be an understatement. Batshuayi scored the first goal on 31 minutes when he found himself in the right place at the right time to confidently slot the ball home. In that context it was a proper striker’s goal, but then many have said that there is little wrong with his instincts in front of goal.

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The game was effectively put to bed with Batshuayi’s second goal on the stroke of half-time. His shot limped over the line as it cannoned off Jamaal Lascelles and looped over goal keeper Karl Darlow, but as far as Batshuayi is concerned they all count. Marcos Alonso’s superb free-kick on 72 minutes was the icing on the cake, but in truth the Geordies never really had a sniff and Chelsea will be delighted to progress to the next round of a competition that is probably their only realistic chance of a trophy this season.

Whether Batshuayi will be available for selection in the next round is open to question. For all the plain silly rumours circulating about some of the strikers Chelsea have been supposedly attempting to sign this transfer window, it seems that they are serious about signing Dzeko.

Whether they can get the deal done seems to hinge on breaking their stated policy of not offering players over the age of 30 more than a one year deal. Nevertheless, Dzeko, unlike Batshuayi is a proven striker of Premier League and Champions League pedigree so he would undoubtedly be a good addition to the squad.

But, here lies the conundrum. Over and above all of the rumours as to whether Conte wants Dzeko or not; whether he will be Chelsea manager beyond the end of the season or whether the board have bungled both this and the summer transfer window; Chelsea desperately need another striker.

If Batshuayi is sent out on loan as a result of Dzeko coming in that will still leave Chelsea with just two strikers. We have already seen Chelsea’s vulnerability to injury and a loss of form of their strikers this season and while Dzeko may be a better option than Batshuayi, there are no guarantees that he will hit the ground running or stay free from injury. And of course he is ineligible for the Champions League matches.

Surely it would be better to have three strikers for a tough run toward the end of the season where Chelsea hunt down a top four finish in the Premier League; go as far as they can in the Champions’ League and put right last year’s disappointment in the FA Cup by going all the way and winning it.

It seems, judging by Conte’s post-match comments that he agrees, making the point that he “doesn’t have three, four or five strikers”. He also made the point, again, that it will not be his decision whether Batshuayi stays or goes if another striker comes in, but the board’s.

Given Conte’s handling of Batshuayi this season, where he seems to have been used as something of a ‘forlorn hope’, few would blame him for trying his luck somewhere else. One wonders though whether that would be his decision, Conte’s or the Board’s and if it is the latter, then surely that would leave Conte in only a slightly better position than he is in now.

Hopefully common sense will prevail and Chelsea will put right the blatant error they made in the summer transfer window by adding another striker, presumably Dzeko, and keeping Batshuayi. There are enough matches at the moment to warrant such depth and more to the point Conte will then have the option of Morata, a striker who links up well with Hazard up front; Batshuayi who increasingly looks effective playing alongside two of Hazard, Willian or Pedro and Dzeko who can play up front on his own.

With ten goals already to his name this season, Batshuayi has proven that he can find the net and do a job for Chelsea. It would make far more sense to add Dzeko to the squad and keep Batshuayi if the deal can be done.

But when it comes to Chelsea’s recent dealings in the transfer market, sense is in as short a supply as strikers.

David Chidgey @StamfordChidge

David Chidgey presents the award winning Chelsea FanCast podcast which can be heard live every Monday at 19.00 at mixlr.com/chelsea-fancast/ or downloaded from Acast, ITunes, Soundcloud or chelseafancast.com @ChelseaFanCast