Michy Batshuayi is poised to return to Crystal Palace on loan once Chelsea have protected the striker’s value with a contract extension.
While Batshuayi’s days at Stamford Bridge are numbered, Chelsea do not want to lose him on a free transfer when his deal expires next summer and are expected to protect the 26-year-old’s value by handing the striker a one-year extension before his loan to Palace.
Chelsea could also send Fikayo Tomori on loan, with Everton having held talks over the England defender. Tomori, who has been targeted by Rennes during this window, was wanted by Everton last summer only for Frank Lampard to give the academy graduate a chance in the first team. The 22-year-old lost his place in the team in the second half of last season and Chelsea want him to play regularly, though they are yet to reach a final decision on the centre-back’s future.
The deal for Batshuayi will prevent Palace from signing the Chelsea youngster, Conor Gallagher, on loan as clubs cannot borrow two players from one club at the same time. However Palace are prepared to make that sacrifice. Roy Hodgson is keen to improve his team’s goalscoring threat and Batshuayi left a favourable impression on Palace when he spent the second half of the 2018-19 season at Selhurst Park, scoring seven times in 13 games.
Batshuayi, who has also had loan spells at Borussia Dortmund and Valencia, has struggled to establish himself at Chelsea since his £33m move from Marseille in 2016. He was already behind Tammy Abraham and Olivier Giroud in the pecking order before the arrival of Timo Werner from RB Leipzig and needs to regular games in order to keep his place in the Belgium squad before Euro 2020 next summer.
Palace have given Batshuayi that opportunity and in the process have dropped out of the race to sign Gallagher. The 20-year-old midfielder, who had loan spells at Swansea and Charlton last season, was expected to spend the upcoming campaign with Hodgson’s side. Gallagher is now in talks with Aston Villa and West Brom. He has also been linked with Leeds, while West Ham have been alerted to his availability.
Chelsea, who are close to signing the Rennes goalkeeper Edouard Mendy for £18.2m, are looking to sell unwanted players after spending more than £200m on six arrivals. Milan are closing in on a deal to sign Tiemoué Bakayoko on loan, Atalanta have been linked with Davide Zappacosta and Internazionale are interested in Emerson Palmieri.
