When Antonio Conte told Michy Batshuayi he was going to be buying a new striker during the January window, the Belgium international’s first thought was that he needed to get a move away from Chelsea.
Speaking to Sport/Foot, the 24-year-old described the idea of sticking around at Stamford Bridge was ‘unimaginable’, knowing full well it would harm his chance of making Roberto Martinez’s World Cup squad, and that’s when the loan to Dortmund was sorted out.
Setting the Bundesliga alight straight away, the forward quickly became a fan favourite.
Everything was going to plan until the heated derby against Schalke in mid-April, when Batshuayi appeared to roll his ankle and was taken off on a stretcher.
The club swiftly confirmed the striker’s season had come to an end, and there was a worry the Chelsea forward would miss the World Cup he’d worked so hard to go to.
Asked by Sport/Foot if Dortmund reassured him straight away, he said: “Not at all (laughs). A doctor came in and told me I could forget about the World Cup. Straight up. I told myself he wasn’t serious, and then he insisted: six weeks of immobilisation and then six weeks of physio. I saw my whole career go by and told myself: I’ve done all this for nothing. I was so close to my goal”.
Not wanting to believe what he’d been told, the player wasn’t helped by everyone around him who kept telling him the doctor was a specialist and knew what he was talking about.
Then came the Chelsea doctor, and everything changed.
He continued: “He wanted to see me quickly. He wanted to make his own analysis. The German doctor wanted me to wear a boot and not put pressure on my foot for a few weeks. Chelsea’s told me: Take it off and try to walk.
“I managed without a problem, and I recovered at Chelsea, worked in water. I had to put everything on my side to get to the World Cup. As soon as I came off injured against Schalke, all I was thinking about was my return”.
Now in Martinez’s squad and raring to go, Batshuayi wants to prove to everyone he’s one of the best strikers around, and where better to do that than on international football’s greatest stage.
