Michy Batshuayi

Club career

Born in Brussels, Batshuayi had a nomadic youth career with spells at Evere, Schaarbeek, FC Brussels (twice) and Anderlecht before he joined Standard Liège.

Standard Liège

Batshuayi made his debut for the senior team on 20 February 2011 in a 4–1 loss away to Gent, replacing Franck Berrier for the last seven minutes. Six days later he made his only other appearance of the Belgian Pro League season, filling in for Aloys Nong in the last minute of a 3–0 victory against Mechelen at the Stade Maurice Dufrasne.

On 21 July, Batshuayi was an unused substitute in the 2011 Belgian Super Cup, a 1–0 loss to Gent. On 15 December he scored his first professional goal, the only one away to F.C. Copenhagen in the last match of Group B during the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League group stage, sending his team into the knockout stages. Six days later he added two more in a 2–1 win at Lierse in the quarter-final first leg of the Belgian Cup, although his team lost 5–4 on aggregate. He got his first league goal on 14 January 2012 to round off a 6–1 home win over Germinal Beerschot, and ended the campaign with six. He was sent off as a substitute in a 3–2 loss at Genk on 22 April for stamping on the chest of Jeroen Simaeys, the Royal Belgian Football Association suspended him for four games.

Batshuayi was again sent off on 25 September 2012 in a 3–2 win at Mouscron in the sixth round of the cup, having elbowed Benjamin Delacourt within the first half-hour; he was banned for the next two games of the competition and fined €200. In an interview a month later, he said he felt "destroyed" by the suspension. He recorded 12 goals in 26 games over the campaign, including two on 19 May 2013 to decide a 4–3 home win over Lokeren.

In the 2013–14 season, Batshuayi contributed 21 goals in 34 games, putting him in second place for the league's top scorer behind Lokeren's Hamdi Harbaoui. This tally included a first professional hat-trick on 15 September in a 4–2 win at Oostende. He was awarded the Ebony Shoe Award for the season's best player of African origin, ahead of Tunisian Harbaoui.

Marseille

On 8 August 2014, Batshuayi signed with French team Marseille for £4.5 million. He made his debut the next day, as they began the Ligue 1 season with a 3–2 win at Bastia, replacing Dmitri Payet with 11 minutes remaining. On 29 October he scored his first goal for the club to open a 2–1 defeat at Rennes in the third round of the Coupe de la Ligue. He scored 9 league goals for Marcelo Bielsa's team, despite rarely starting matches. On 22 February 2015, within five minutes of coming on for André-Pierre Gignac, he scored twice away to Saint-Étienne in an eventual 2–2 draw. In March, he added further braces in away victories at Toulouse and Lens (6–1 and 4–0 respectively), the latter after taking Gignac's place at half time.

On 23 August 2015, Batshuayi scored his first goals of the season, a brace, in a 6–0 victory over Troyes. Club president Vincent Lebrune said soon after "There is not a single top 15 world club that is not interested in Batshuayi. He is one of the most wanted players on the market. There were a lot of offers for him this summer, but he didn’t want to leave. He’s proving himself on the pitch, and if clubs want him then they are going to have to pay around €50m." By the mid-season break he had 11 goals from 19 games, behind only arch-rival Paris Saint-Germain's Zlatan Ibrahimović with Marseille in 10th and PSG in 1st, and finished the league season with 17 goals. He added two more goals from five games in the Coupe de France, one being in the final, lost 4–2 to PSG on 21 May 2016.

Chelsea

In April 2016, English Premier League club West Ham United were reported as the favourites to sign Batshuayi, having offered a €35 million bid. Two months later, their London neighbours Crystal Palace made a €38 million (£31.5 million) bid which would have made him their record signing, while Italian champions Juventus were also among the interested parties. Although Palace's bid was accepted, Batshuayi did not want to make the move, instead engaging with a €40 million (£33.2 million) offer from Chelsea, for which he left the UEFA Euro 2016 squad to take a medical. On 3 July, he signed a five-year deal at Chelsea. He was the first signing by their new manager Antonio Conte, and said that his aim was to get the team back to winning the Premier League and qualifying for the Champions League. Batshuayi added that he was eager to work alongside their midfielder Oscar. Batshuayi joined Chelsea for preseason in Austria, and on 20 July, he made his debut in a friendly against Wolfsberger AC. A day later, he scored his first two goals in an 8–0 friendly victory against Atus Ferlach.

On 15 August, Batshuayi made his competitive debut in Chelsea's opening match of the 2016–17 season, coming off the bench to set up Diego Costa's late winner in a 2–1 win over West Ham United. Five days later, after replacing Oscar, he went on to score his first Premier League goal in a victory by the same score at Watford. On 23 August, Batshuayi made his first start for Chelsea in the EFL Cup, scoring a brace in a 3–2 home victory against Bristol Rovers.

On 12 May, Batshuayi came on as a second-half substitute against West Bromwich Albion with the score 0–0, with Chelsea needing a victory to clinch the Premier League title. In the 82nd minute, he slotted a goal past keeper Ben Foster, to win Chelsea their fifth Premier League title and sixth title in all. Batshuayi went on to score three goals in Chelsea's final two games, including the last goal of the season in the 92nd minute of Chelsea's 5–1 win over Sunderland at Stamford Bridge on the final day of the season. Batshuayi finished the season with 5 goals in only 236 minutes of Premier League action, equaling a rate of one goal every 47 minutes.

International career

Batshuayi was eligible to play for the DR Congo national team through his parents, but in March 2015 he ruled out this option, stating that although his Congolese heritage is important to him, he would rather represent Belgium.

Batshuayi made his international debut for Belgium on 28 March 2015 in a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match against Cyprus. Replacing Christian Benteke in the 77th minute, he scored from outside the penalty area three minutes later to seal a 5–0 victory at home. He was selected for the final tournament in France, making his competition debut in the last 16 against Hungary in Toulouse on 26 June. With his first touch, he finished Eden Hazard's assist for the second goal of a 4–0 victory.

Style of play

A December 2015 profiling by FourFourTwo likened Batshuayi to Didier Drogba for his speed, strength, positioning and link-up play, despite being shorter than the Ivorian.

Personal life

Batshuayi is nicknamed "Batsman", a play on words of the name of the popular superhero Batman. His younger brother Aaron Leya Iseka plays in the same position, coming through at Anderlecht and signing for Marseille after Batshuayi's exit.

Career statistics

International

International goals

Club

Chelsea

Individual