Chelsea
are close to completing the signing of Belgium striker Michy Batshuayi
from Marseille in a deal worth £33 million, according to multiple
reports.
Batshuayi has been one of the most coveted players of the
transfer window, with Marseille said to have rejected bids from West
Ham and Juventus earlier this summer before Crystal Palace reportedly had an offer of £31.6m accepted on Monday.
L'Equipe,
which first reported the story on Tuesday evening, reports that Chelsea
have agreed to pay £33m to secure Batshuayi, making him the most
lucrative sale in Marseille's history ahead of Didier Drogba, who made
the same switch in the summer of 2004.
Batshuayi will reportedly
undergo a medical at Belgium's Euro 2016 base in Bordeaux, where Marc
Wilmots' men are preparing for Friday's quarterfinal clash with Wales in
Lille, before signing a five-year contract.
The
deal would make the 22-year-old the first signing at Stamford Bridge
since Antonio Conte's appointment as first-team head coach in April, as
the Italian looks to significantly bolster a squad responsible for the
worst season of the Roman Abramovich era.
Batshuayi scored 17
goals in Ligue 1 last season and came off the substitutes' bench to net
Belgium's second goal in a 4-0 rout of Hungary on Sunday. Despite
Chelsea's inability to offer European football this season, The Guardian reports that he had reservations about accepting the offer of a move to Palace.
The
Guardian also claims that Chelsea could still pursue a deal for Spain
international striker Alvaro Morata, who recently returned to Real
Madrid from Juventus, but said interest in re-signing Romelu Lukaku from
Everton looks to have ended.
Sources revealed in April that Chelsea retained an interest in Lukaku
but that the Blues could be forced to pay more than double the £28m
they received from Everton for his sale in the summer of 2014.
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