According to Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic, Michy Batshuayi has all the capability to replace Diego Costa in the next match against Bournemouth.
Costa won’t be available for the Boxing Day encounter with the Cherries as he got his 5th Yellow card in the last match and will serve an automatic one-match suspension. Batshuayi hasn’t got many chances after arriving from Marseille in the summer but he could make his first Premier League start of this season.
The 23-year old Belgian international has managed a mere 78 minutes of Premier League game time so far but will have his first chance to impress Antonio Conte who has so far relied on Diego Costa.
Matic said, “When you have Diego in the team it is very hard to get a chance because he is playing so well and scoring goals, but I’m sure Michy is ready to take his opportunity because he is working hard every day.
“We won’t have Diego against Bournemouth but I hope Michy will be the man to decide the game. If he does that it will be good for us. He is a great striker, for sure, that is why Chelsea bought him. I’m sure if he gets a chance to score in the next game, he’ll take it.
“Of course he has benefited from working with Costa it was the same with me seven years ago [in Matic’s first spell at Chelsea]. It was very good for me to see how Frank Lampard played, how Michael Ballack played and Michael Essien.”
