Chelsea agree £33.2m transfer with Marseille for Michy Batshuayi Matt Law, football news correspondent
29 JUNE 2016 • 10:23AM
Antonio Conte is poised to clinch his first signing since agreeing to become Chelsea’s new head coach after the club agreed a shock £33.2million deal with Marseille for striker Michy Batshuayi. Although Conte will not officially take charge of Chelsea until he finishes work as Italy’s head coach at Euro 2016, the 46-year-old personally gave the go-ahead for the move for Batshuayi on Tuesday afternoon.
Chelsea’s swift decision came after Crystal Palace had a £31.6m offer for 22-year-old Batshuayi accepted by Marseille president Vincent Labrune on Monday.
West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur had also been chasing the player. Batshuayi scored in Belgium’s 4-0 victory over Hungary at Euro 2016 and he is now preparing for Friday’s quarter-final against Wales.
He could take a Chelsea medical in France and sign a five-year contract before that game. It remains to be seen whether or not Chelsea now continue to pursue their interest in Spain striker Alvaro Morata, who they had held talks over.
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has personally watched Morata, but Real Madrid are believed to value the 23-year-old at around £50m while Everton majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri is desperate to hold on to Romelu Lukaku, who the Blues have considered re-signing.
With the loan deals for Radamel Falcao and Alexandre Pato not being renewed, and Chelsea open to offers for Loic Remy, Conte may well need to sign more than one new striker.Batshuayi scored 17 goals in Ligue 1 this season and will become the most expensive sale in Marseille’s history, eclipsing the fee they raised when selling Didier Drogba to Chelsea in 2004.
Conte also wants to sign a new midfielder and at least one new defender, but Roma are increasingly confident they will hang on to Batshuayi’s Belgium team-mate Radja Nainggolan.
Batshuayi had been due to speak to the Belgian press on Wednesday to preview the Wales game, but was excused from talking as he finalised his Chelsea move. Belgian sources also claimed Batshuayi had missed breakfast with the rest of the squad to sort out his future. Chelsea's move so close to a quarter-final game has caused anger in Belgium with fans and press believing the players should be concentrating fully on the national side.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/06/29/chelsea-agree-332m-deal-with-marseille-for-michy-batshuayi/
