Former Chelsea striker hits out at Antonio Conte for signing him under false pretences

Former Chelsea striker Michy Batshuayi has hit out at his old Stamford Bridge boss Antonio Conte for signing him under false pretences.

The Belgian moved to west London in 2016 in a deal worth £35million, after an impressive spell at Marseille where he compared to legendary Blues attacker Didier Drogba.

However, during his six years at the club, Batshuayi failed to become a first-choice option. To that end, he actually did reasonably well to score 25 goals in 77 games across all competitions.

The 28-year-old was often loaned out, having spells at Borussia Dortmund, Valencia, Crystal Palace and Besiktas.

Batshuayi did, however, score the winning goal that earned Chelsea and Conte the Premier League title in 2016-17.

The striker finally ended his stay at the club over the summer when he joined Turkish side Fenerbahce. And now, he has discussed his time at Stamford Bridge.

And the Belgian forwards has revealed that he felt betrayed by Conte, who is now in charge at Tottenham, after the Italian promised to play him in a certain formation – only to end up changing his tactics.

“Conte was constantly contradicting himself,” Batshuayi told Sport.

“To start with my arrival. He called me and explained his project. He wanted me to play in a two-man frontline alongside Diego Costa.

“Did I believe that? Of course, because Conte has played with two attackers all his career. Except at Chelsea with me.

“I do not understand. The truth is that I have been fooled far too often.”

Conte change costly for Batshuayi

Batshuayi was perhaps unfortunate that Conte moved away from his normal 3-5-2 formation to go with the 3-4-3 he still favours now.

That led to Costa leading the line on his own with wingers Eden Hazard and Willian either side of him.

And despite Costa being sold in January 2018, Batshuayi still struggled to make his mark as the Blues ended up signing Alvaro Morata and Olivier Giroud instead.

As for Batshuayi, the striker has scored once in three appearances for his new side.

Chelsea are back in Premier League action on October 1 when they head to London rivals Crystal Palace.

The game will be Graham Potter’s first league outing as boss after he took charge of the disappointing Champions League home draw with RB Salzburg.

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