Chelsea boss Antonio Conte is reportedly keen on signing Swansea City striker Fernando Llorente, which could be bad news for Michy Batshuayi.
The Belgian international has struggled to make an impact at Stamford Bridge so far this season as he has barely featured in the Premier League.
With three goals in 15 games, he’s hardly had the chance to do much more, and the 23-year-old, who cost the Premier League leaders £33m last summer, could be set for an exit this month on a temporary basis according to The Guardian.
That’s because Conte is hopeful of signing Llorente, a player he knows well given that they worked together during the former’s spell in charge at Juventus.
It’s claimed in the report that Chelsea are keen to sign him either on loan or on a permanent basis, but given his importance to Swansea’s bid for survival, they expect it to be difficult to prise him away from the Liberty Stadium.
New manager Paul Clement will likely assess what he has at his disposal before making decisions in the transfer market, and it’s highly unlikely that he’ll want to lose one of his senior strikers when goals are desperately needed.
Nevertheless, Chelsea will monitor the situation in the event that the Swans sign another striker, as Conte looks to add depth to his squad and bring in adequate cover should Diego Costa suffer an injury or get suspended.
The biggest snub of Batshuayi’s short Chelsea career thus far came on Boxing Day as even though Costa was banned for the game against Bournemouth, Conte opted to start Eden Hazard in a false nine role instead.
While the Blues boss has insisted that Batshuayi has a future at Stamford Bridge, a move for Llorente doesn’t particularly back that claim up very well.