According to The Athletic’s Simon Johnson, West Ham United have ruled out making a bid for Chelsea striker Michy Batshuayi with his £110,000-a-week wages putting them and other suitors off.
It’s one of the reasons why Crystal Palace are no longer interested in the Belgian despite spending a £1 million loan fee on him and paying all of his salary when they took him to Selhurst Park for the second half of last season.
Batshuayi is way down the pecking order at Chelsea and he isn’t in boss Frank Lampard’s first-team plans.
The Stamford Bridge outfit would love to sell him, and will attempt to get a large sum for his signature after asking Borussia Dortmund for £50 million in 2018.
Chelsea want close to the £33 million they paid Marseille for Batshuayi’s signature in 2016, and while West Ham won’t be keen to do business, the Blues could be ready to offer him for free, as long as they get Declan Rice in return.
Chelsea are interested in Rice but he is seen as a low-priority signing this summer, and it remains to be seen if West Ham would be keen on a player-plus-cash swap deal.
According to Bleacher Report, Spurs would have to offer a different player from Eric Dier, as well as cash, to have a chance of landing the West Ham star this summer, and Chelsea might have to do the same from the look of things.
