Chelsea have moved quickly to swoop for Michy Batshuayi after seemingly admitting defeat in their attempts to re-sign Romelu Lukaku.
The Blues last night agreed a £33.2million deal with Marseille for the Belgium striker as Antonio Conte’s Stamford Bridge rebuilding project begins.
West Ham and Juventus both lodged bids for Batshuayi before Crystal Palace had a club-record offer accepted for the player on Monday night.
That development alerted Chelsea to Marseille’s willingness to sell the forward, who scored in Belgium’s thrashing of Hungary at the weekend, and a fee was agreed.
Should the deal go through, it will make him the most expensive player ever to be sold by the French club as it would surpass the £24million received for Didier Drogba.
The 22-year-old hitman is now expected to be granted permission by Marc Wilmots to undergo a medical on Wednesday before signing a five-year contract.
He leaves the Stade Vélodrome having scored 33 times in 78 appearances
Goalscoring was a major problem for Chelsea last season with Diego Costa struggling at various stages of the campaign and nobody else able to fill the void.
A £40million transfer move for Real Madrid’s Alvaro Morata has also been heavily discussed by Blues chiefs and is not out of the questions despite Batshuayi’s arrival.
Radamel Falcao has already returned to Monaco while Loic Remy and Alexandre Pato are also heading out of the west London club, freeing up space in the squad.
Madrid are said to be considering their options having activated a buy-back clause in the deal which took him to Juventus two years ago and could look to double their money.
Alvaro Negredo, Roberto Soldado and Samuel Eto’o have all been shifted on in a similar fashion and manager Zinedine Zidane is not short of attacking options at the Bernabeu.
Chelsea’s spending spree will continue this summer with Conte keen to re-shape the squad after a horrendous 2015-16 season under Jose Mourinho and later Guus Hiddink.
Batshuayi’s compatriot, Roma midfielder Radja Nainggolan, remains a top target but Chelsea are becoming frustrated after seeing three bids turned down for the player.
