Chelsea and Swansea fans react to a reported Llorente-Batshuayi swap deal

Add as preferred source on Google

There has been a lot of talk in recent days about Chelsea pursuing Fernando Llorente and offering Michy Batshuayi to Swansea on loan as part of the deal. Wales Online report that contact has been made between the two clubs and that Antonio Conte is keen to link up with Llorente, a player that he managed at Juventus. Although Paul Clement said after their FA Cup defeat to Hull City that he knew nothing about the deal, there does seem to be genuine interest from Chelsea in making it happen.

It is obvious to see the appeal to Chelsea. They recognise that they have an excellent talent in Michy Batshuayi, who they have invested a lot of money into. However, at the age of 23, he needs to be playing regular first team football. He has shown flashes of quality since moving to Stamford Bridge, but there are still weaknesses to his game and he isn’t yet ready to seriously challenge Diego Costa. Also he differs in style to Costa and the Belgian can’t be used as a like-for-like replacement. That is why Batshuayi didn’t come into the starting eleven when Costa was suspended against Stoke City.

Meanwhile, Llorente is a much more experienced player and he is better suited to the style of play that Chelsea are currently employing. He is similar in stature to Costa and equally as effective at holding the ball up. Although he lacks the dynamism of Costa, he offers a more physical presence than Batshuayi and is at a stage of his career where he will be happy to play a supporting role at a club such as Chelsea. He was used in a similar way at Juventus and he has showed this season that he can offer goals in the Premier League.

If they manage to do this deal, it would be a logical move for Chelsea as they would benefit from Llorente in the short term, while Batshuayi would develop at another Premier League club, which would provide long term benefits to the Blues. However, the main debate has been whether Swansea should sanction such a move and I believe that they should.

To begin with, they would be getting a fee for a 31-year-old with little sell on value. This would increase their own spending power, which is needed as they need to strengthen across the pitch. Also, they would be getting a ready made replacement in Batshuayi, a player that may suit their style of play better than Llorente. Gylfi Sigurdsson is the best player at Swansea and he has the ability to combine well with a quicker and more mobile striker. Batshuayi certainly fits that bill. Although it would only be a loan move, Swansea need to stay up this season and the Belgian striker has the ability to score the goals to help them to that aim.

Here is how the Chelsea fans reacted to the possible swap on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/CFCDavies_/status/818443591060176896

https://twitter.com/MickmarJr/status/818399357250760704

https://twitter.com/Selwie/status/818385122168868864

https://twitter.com/BallerMurphs/status/818374013504417792

There was similar contrasting views in the Swansea camp:

https://twitter.com/wardiaz85/status/818472785811017729

Guillem Balague suggested another reason why Conte wants Llorente:

Some think that Conte should be trusted to do the right thing: