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Antonio Conte fooled me at Chelsea - Michy Batshuayi
Antonio Conte fooled me at Chelsea - Michy Batshuayi
Michy Batshuayi has expressed his frustration over his Chelsea career under manager Antonio Conte.
The Belgian joined the Blues from Marseille in the summer of 2016 for £33m, and he was fancied to play up front alongside Diego Costa.
Conte had deployed a two-man strike partnership at his former clubs, but he surprised everyone by going with Costa as the lone striker.
As a result, Batshuayi was restricted to just 223 minutes of Premier League football in his debut season. He amazingly scored five goals.
The 28-year-old saw more playing time (353 minutes) in the first half of the 2017/18 season, but was loaned out at the turn of the year.
Speaking to Belgian outlet Sport, Batshuayi has now acknowledged that he was fooled by Conte, who initially planned to pair him with Costa.
He said: "Conte was constantly contradicting himself. To start with my arrival. He called me and explained his project. He wanted me to play in a two-man frontline alongside Diego Costa."
"Did I believe that? Of course, because Conte has played with two attackers all his career. Except at Chelsea with me. I do not understand. The truth is that I have been fooled far too often."
Batshuayi's career at Chelsea involved several loan spells. He finally ended his time with the club by joining Fenerbahce permanently this month.
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