Antonio Conte: Michy Batshuayi is a ‘great player for the present and the future’ of Chelsea

EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images
Sam Long15 July 2016

New Chelsea manager Antonio Conte believes Michy Batshuayi is capable of making an impact at Stamford Bridge.

The 22-year-old penned a five-year deal with the Blues earlier in the summer and has vowed to do everything in his power to fire the club to the top of the table.

But uncertainty remains as to whether the Belgium international will play regularly next season as Diego Costa is currently first-choice ahead of the youngster.

Batshuayi has already proved his worth in the eyes of some, courtesy of a number of impressive displays at Euro 2016 this summer, and Conte is delighted to have the chance to call upon such a promising talent.

"Absolutely I think Michy can make an impact because he is a young player but very strong, with good technique," insisted the Italian.

"He uses two feet. He is a great talent. I am very happy that Batshuayi is with us and I know the club bought a great player for the present and the future."

The Italian coach resisted the temptation to be drawn on the names of other players to be linked with Chelsea during his first press conference on Thursday afternoon.

But the 46-year-old did hint that he is keen to recruit players who suit his philosophy rather than only players who have won silverware elsewhere.

"I prefer to speak with my club and we will take the decision on players who adapt to our idea of football - not to take the champions only because they are the champions, but players who adapt to our philosophy," he added.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in