Chelsea striker Michy Batshuayi had a tale of two seasons, as he got playing time and thus regained his scoring touch upon moving to Borussia Dortmund on loan in January. He was buried on the depth chart at Stamford Bridge, but with BVB he scored seven times in ten games, including a brace in his debut.
Batshuayi became “the Batsman” again, until a serious ankle injury ended his season early. Despite the injury, Dortmund remain impressed, so much so that they are not even trying to hide their interest in acquiring the forward permanently.
“The interest to sign him is there,” said Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke. “But first we have to wait and see who will be Chelsea’s coach next season. Then we’ll start looking.”
That is the key right there- who’s the boss at Chelsea next season? Antonio Conte won a Premier League title last season, his first year on the job, but the Blues are almost certain to finish outside the top four this season. Unless they beat Southampton on Sunday in the FA Cup semifinal, and then the Tottenham Hotspur-Manchester United winner in the final, the Blues will be not only out of Champions League, but also trophyless this season.
Given what a ridiculously itchy trigger finger Chelsea Owner, Russian Oligarch and Vladimir Putin BFF Roman Abramovich has, it’s widely expected that Conte will not be back next season.
Once it’s figured out who the manager is, then we’ll see how the Chelsea attack takes shape, and from there, whether or not there’s a place for Batshuayi.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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