It’s no secret that Antonio Conte is a big fan of Fernando Llorente.
After all, he’s the one who brought the Spaniard to Juventus from Athletic Bilbao, and there were enough rumours about an interest from Chelsea over the summer to suggest a reunion at Stamford Bridge was wanted.
In the end, Tottenham were the ones to save him from his Swansea struggles, and he’s happily played backup to Harry Kane ever since.
The problem for the Blues in all this was Michy Batshuayi, a player Chelsea spent a lot of money on, and while he’s happily played second fiddle to both Diego Costa and Alvaro Morata over the past few years, there’s every chance he’ll never become the main striker at the club.
This is why we weren’t surprised when Sport/Foot this week revealed the Belgium striker’s entourage held ‘long discussions’ with Monaco about a potential loan for the season in order to give him some extra game time, something the Ligue 1 side could’ve done following the sale of Kylian Mbappé.
In the end, Batshuayi himself decided to fight for a spot at Chelsea, something that hasn’t worked out for him, remaining Antonio Conte’s second choice.
However, the Belgian newspaper also state there’s every chance the former Marseille star will be loaned out for the second half of the season ahead of the World Cup.
If that is the case, and we’re not entirely convinced by it, then Chelsea will need to find another backup striker somewhere, as it seems unlikely Antonio Conte will be happy with just having Morata at his disposal, what with three cups and the league still to play for after Christmas.
