Antonio Conte wants to keep Michy Batshuayi at Chelsea

Bengaluru, January 30: Chelsea manager Antonio Conte risked another row with his Chelsea bosses by insisting they cannot afford to offload Michy Batshuayi.

Belgian striker Batshuayi, who struck twice in their FA Cup fourth-round win over Newcastle, is lined up for a loan move to Sevilla this week should the Blues complete the signing of Edin Dzeko from Roma or Olivier Giroud of Arsenal.

However, Conte insists that will leave him too light in the striking department with his team still fighting on three fronts.

The Chelsea boss said: “If you see our squad we don’t have three, four or five strikers, we have two — Morata and Batshuayi.

“I don’t know what happens. But when you play in the Premier League, Champions League and the FA Cup three strikers is the minimum.

“We have to see what happens in the market. If we are able to take another player, it doesn’t mean Michy has to go on loan.

"We have a lot of competitions. Three strikers is the minimum.

“I don’t know if Michy wants to stay or go on loan — it will be the player’s decision, not my decision.

“I’m ready to continue to work with these players. I’m very happy. But I don’t know what happens with the transfer market.”

Batshuayi, 24, has scored ten goals this season, despite not even playing a total of 1000 minutes.

It is quite clear that Conte is not the biggest fan of Belgian striker as he preferred to play an out-of-form Morata ahead of Batshuayi.

Even when Morata was injured, the Italian opted for Hazard operating as a false-nine.

Conte admitted he is still not entirely satisfied with the player’s all-round play, despite his strike rate.

The Italian added: “The performance for the media depends a lot on if the striker scores.

“For me it’s important to score but at the same time it is very important the striker works well for the team. Michy in this way has improved a lot.”