Chelsea manager Antonio Conte may have recently expressed his admiration for Harry Kane, but Blues hero Pat Nevin believes Michy Batshuayi could be a surprise star for the club this season.
The Belgian has started pre-season in superb form, following a decent spell when finally given more playing time towards the end of last season, when he netted the club’s title-clinching goal away to West Brom.
Still, Conte relied mainly on Diego Costa up front last season, and even moved Eden Hazard into a false-9 role instead of selecting Batshuayi in his place when Costa was out.
The Italian then moved to sign Alvaro Morata this summer due to Costa’s likely departure, and admitted he’d also love to sign Kane from rivals Tottenham if he had the chance.
‘For me, Kane, now, is one of the best strikers in the world. If I had to buy one striker I would go to Kane. He is a complete striker,’ Conte said last week.
Nevin, however, is expecting big things from Batshuayi this season after a prolific patch of form in Chelsea’s pre-season friendly matches so far, even comparing his minutes-per-goal ratio to that of Kane.
‘Our Belgian striker had limited opportunities last season but having watched him a good deal even before he came to the Blues, one thing that was never in doubt was the fact that this man can score goals,’ Nevin wrote on Chelsea’s official website.
‘In fact, he has great difficulty stopping scoring when he gets the chances. Look at the numbers and you see what he is all about. His goals per minutes played ratio even last season was easily the best at the club and among the best in the league.
‘Actually, at a goal for every 79 minutes he was on the field, he was well ahead of even Harry Kane last season! His current run is even more impressive and suggests very good things lie ahead.
‘Michy was the man on the spot to win the league for us at West Brom last season when he had just come on as sub. Taking all games other than the FA Cup final, when he only got two minutes on the field, he then went on a run of seven goals in five appearances and none of them were full 90-minute stints. The goals run was: WBA (1), Watford (1), Sunderland (2), Arsenal (2) and Bayern Munich (1). That worked out at roughly a goal every 41 minutes on the field.
‘Pre-season is for building things up slowly but surely so that the players can burst into the first game in peak form. It is about spotting the weaknesses and sorting them out during this period. It is also about seeing who is improving and growing within the group and it might just be that Michy will be a far bigger player for the Blues this season than last.’
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