Dortmund want Chelsea striker Batshuayi on permanent deal

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Bengaluru, April 23: German giants Borussia Dortmund have confirmed they are keen on signing Chelsea striker Michy Batshuayi on a permanent deal in the summer after the Belgian's successfull loan spell at Signal Iduna Park.

The 24-year-old has scored nine goals in 14 games for the Bundesliga club after arriving on loan from Chelsea in January, but an injury cut short his season.

The Belgian hitman picked up an ankle injury during the 2-0 defeat against Schalke recently, but has been told he should be fit to represent Belgium at the World Cup.

Borussia Dortmund are on the lookout for a centre-forward after having sold Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to Arsenal in the winter transfer window. And after slotting in seamlessly in Peter Stoger's side, BVB chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke has revealed Batshuayi is a top priority.

He told Sport Bild: "The interest to sign him does generally exist.

"Chelsea already have two centre-forwards in [Alvaro] Morata and [Olivier] Giroud.

"First, we have to wait who will be coaching Chelsea next season. Then we'll see what is possible."

The Blues are believed to be holding out for a sum of around £50million, with Roman Abramovich desperate to make a profit after acquiring him for £33.1m from Marseille in 2016.

But it has been reported that Dortmund are only willing to fork out between £35m-£40million for his signature. Chelsea are known to be a stringent side when it comes to player sales but Borussia Dortmund is a club who are also known for their business model.

Plus, Dortmund have a lot of top players at their club and their scouting is also superb. No club will want to upset them considering that a good relationship might help them sign players from the German side in future.

Borussia Dortmund, who enjoyed their time as the most dominant side in Germany along with Bayern few years back, are losing their identity slowly with the likes of their rivals Schalke, RB Leipzig and others improving drastically.

They will be desperate to have a strong season next time out and Batshuayi has shown glimpses of promise that he can help them do exactly that.