Alvaro Morata’s bright start had Chelsea up and running in the early part of the season. However, as the season progressed, Morata showed signs of fatigue and having already played more minutes this season than any other previous campaign, Chelsea will have to be careful with their handling of the Spanish striker.
His backup option, Michy Batshuayi, despite scoring 12 goals this season, has not shown the consistency Conte demands and the Italian’s decision to rebuff the striker for any crucial clash and opting to use Hazard instead exposed Chelsea’s lack of options up front while in crisis. Chelsea are already 15 points off the pace in the title race and have to buckle down from here onwards if they want to finish in a Champions League spot come May.
With the deal for Edin Dzeko hanging by the thread, Conte has finally openly spoken out about his need to add more firepower. Conte said: “If you see our squad, we don’t have three, four, five strikers. We have two strikers: (Alvaro) Morata and Batshuayi. When you have to play league, Champions League, then FA Cup. If we have also three strikers I think that’s the minimum. It doesn’t mean if we take another player Michy has to go on loan because we have a lot of competitions. If the club wants to add players to this squad, or if we want to continue with only two strikers – Morata and Batshuayi – I’d be happy in both cases. We have to see what happens during the transfer market.”
Conte, though, suggested that the decision rests with the player and he would in no way want to see the young Belgian stay back at the club without his choice. The Blues boss added: “If the club decides to add another player, then, I don’t know if Michy wants to stay, or wants to go on loan. In this case, it would be a player decision, not my decision. I’m ready to continue to work with these players. Today I think I showed that for me the most important thing is the present. It’s not the future.
The 24-year-old Belgian striker was brought from Marseille for £33.1m in 2016. He arrived from the French club with a decent reputation as a talented hitman who had scored 23 goals in 50 games for the club in the 2015-16 season.
However, ever since his arrival to Chelsea, he has had to play as a backup option; first to Diego Costa and now to Alvaro Morata. It now remains to be seen whether the Belgian stays or leaves come January 31st.
