Chelsea striker Michy Batshuayi has completed his move to Borussia Dortmund on loan until the end of the season.
Batshuayi heads to Germany on deadline day in search of regular first-team football, having started just three Premier League matches under Antonio Conte this season despite Chelsea’s first-choice striker Alvaro Morata struggling for fitness and form in recent months.
His arrival is intended to fill the void left by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who on deadline day joined Arsenal from Dortmund for a club-record reported fee of £56 million, while Chelsea acquired Olivier Giroud from the Gunners for around £16.25m to provide competition and cover for Morata.
Heard the Batman job was vacant @BVB so I decided to take over ??? Hallo Bundesliga wie gent es dir ?! ?? pic.twitter.com/gKa5d6tydR
— Michy Batshuayi (@mbatshuayi) January 31, 2018
Batshuayi, who represented Belgium at Euro 2016 and will wear the No. 44 shirt, said: “In order to achieve my big objective, I want to play as much as possible and score many goals. The World Cup is taking place in the summer.”
BVB’s sporting director Michael Zorc added: “Michy is a young, very interesting striker who boasts a good goalscoring record and has shown his extraordinary quality at Chelsea and Olympique Marseille, in the Belgian league and while playing for the national team.”
Batshuayi joined Chelsea from Marseille for £33m in July 2016 but has failed to earn the trust of Conte, finding his chances limited by Diego Costa last season and Morata this term — though he did come off the bench to score the goal that secured the Premier League title for the Blues against West Brom in May.
Conte has also favoured deploying Eden Hazard as a false nine rather than start Batshuayi. He scored 10 goals in 25 appearances in all competitions for Chelsea this season.
Liam is ESPN FC’s Chelsea correspondent. Follow him on Twitter: @Liam_Twomey.