CRYSTAL PALACE have won the race to sign Michy Batshuayi on loan for the season.
West Brom and Aston Villa had both enquired about whether they could take the Belgium international striker for the entire campaign.
But the 26-year-old is now heading for a return to Selhurst Park having enjoyed a successful loan spell with the club before.
Chelsea have protected themselves from losing Batshuayi on a free transfer next year by extending his current deal by a further 12 months.
He scored seven goals in 13 appearances for the Eagles having arrived in the January transfer window in 2019 and boss Roy Hodgson is hoping he can provide a similar cutting edge to his new-look team this season.
Palace have been actively looking to bring in younger talent this summer with Eberechi Eze arriving from QPR and Nathan Ferguson signed from West Brom.
Batshuayi’s move also means Palace cannot sign fellow Chelsea player Conor Gallagher on loan.
Clubs are forbidden from loaning two players from one club at the same time.
Hodgson is said to be not too bothered by that situation, especially as Batshuayi should add significantly to their firepower up top.
Batshuayi, who has also had loan spells at Borussia Dortmund and Valencia and cost Chelsea £33m when he joined from Marseille in 2016, had already fallen behind Tammy Abraham and Olivier Giroud in the pecking order.
Chelsea are looking to offload some players having splurged £200m on new signings – with more set to come.
The Blues are said to close to sealing a deal for Rennes goalkeeper Edouard Mendy before then going for West Ham’s Declan Rice.
Meanwhile, Tiemoue Bakayoko is in talks with Milan, Atalanta could go for Davide Zappacosta and Inter are looking at Emerson Palmieri.
