With Antoine Griezmann potentially headed to Manchester United, Atletico Madrid are eyeing Chelsea’s Michy Batshuayi as a potential reinforcement.
As league commitments drew to a close across large parts of the continent last weekend, teams have already begun sounding out their respective transfer targets for the summer and Atletico Madrid are getting a move on quick.
According to TransferMarketWeb’s Italian sources, the club are eyeing Michy Batshuayi’s signature as a potential back-up should Antoine Griezmann head out to the Premier League.
The Belgian hasn’t enjoyed the greatest of debut seasons with Chelsea and certainly far from the heights he touched at Olympique Marseille prior to the move to Stamford Bridge.
Despite that, the 23-year-old has a return of 11 goals and 3 assists to show for from 28 appearances this season. Batshuayi also enjoyed his moment in the spotlight scoring the decisive goal that sealed the title for the Blues against West Bromwich Albion.
With Chelsea reportedly looking for alternative signings up top, Batshuayi’s future under Antonio Conte has come under further doubt and the striker could make his way out of the club in search of regular first-team football.
Atletico Madrid, on the other hand, look hard-pressed to lose Antoine Griezmann this summer with Manchester United being the most likely destination. The forward gave away hints of a possible summer switch last week when questioned about his Old Trafford links on a French talk show.
While that, in retrospect, gave rise to numerous reports linking United with securing a move for the player as early as June, only time will confirm its legitimacy.
However, Atletico aren’t sitting around and waiting for United’s approach for the 26-year-old as they have already lined up a possible replacement in Olympique Lyon’s Alexandre Lacazette.
With Kevin Gameiro enduring a poor debut campaign at the Calderon, Batshuayi has entered the scheme of interest as well for the Madrid giants.
There has also been interest for the Belgian from Premier League campaigners West Ham United and newly crowned Ligue 1 winners AS Monaco. At 23, Batshuayi has bags of potential and is still a work in progress.
The switch from France to England is never an easy one given the physical nature of the Premier League and a player as young as Batshuayi needs time and opportunities to prove his worth.
Chelsea should probably look to loan the player out to some of their interested suitors as he could well become a handy replacement to Diego Costa in the future.
