According to reports from The Express, Atletico Madrid are the latest club to join the race to sign Marseille striker Michy Batshuayi.
The 22-year-old simply hasn’t looked back since first exploding onto the scene with Standard Liege in 2011. He scored 39 goals in 97 league appearances for Les Rouches, earning a big-money move to Stade Velodrome in summer 2014, and has continued to impress since switching to Ligue 1.
Indeed, after spending his first season getting to grips with French football, Batshuayi has started the current campaign in scintillating form, claiming eight goals and three assists in 13 league outings whilst also finding the net against Braga in the Europa League. Only Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Benjamin Moukandjo have scored more goals in the French top flight this season.
Belgium internationals are dominating the top end of the Premier League like never before and boasting leap, power and pace in equal measure, the 5 foot 11 forward is tipped to become the latest Red Devil to take the English game by storm. Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United have all been linked this season, although it is more than likely Batshuayi will only leave Marseille for a Champions League club.
There are two stumbling blocks that could halt Arsenal and Chelsea’s pursuit of the prodigious striker, however. First of all, Marseille president Vincente Labrune has taken the audacious step of publicly valuing Batshuayi at £35million, telling reporters earlier this month; “There is not a single top 15 world club that is not interested in Batshuayi. He is one of the most wanted players on the market. There were a lot of offers for him this summer, but he did not want to leave. He is proving himself on the pitch. And if clubs want him then they are going to have to pay up. Around €50m!”
Secondly and as already alluded to by Labrune, interest in Batshuayi is by no means limited to the Premier League. Valencia were linked earlier this week and now it’s Atletico Madrid’s turn, courtesy of The Express. They claim manager Diego Simeone is determined to sign the Brussels-born front-man before anybody else does, even if it requires meeting Marseille’s lofty valuation.