{"id":1279639,"date":"2022-09-23T09:53:20","date_gmt":"2022-09-23T08:53:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?p=1279639"},"modified":"2022-09-23T09:53:20","modified_gmt":"2022-09-23T08:53:20","slug":"michy-batshuayi-chelsea-transfer-antonio-conte-fooled","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/news\/michy-batshuayi-chelsea-transfer-antonio-conte-fooled\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I was fooled\u2019 \u2014 Michy Batshuayi accuses \u201ccontradicting\u201d Conte of making false promises to sign him for Chelsea"},"content":{"rendered":"

Michy Batshuayi has accused former Chelsea manager Antonio Conte of going back on his word when he joined the Stamford Bridge club.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Batshuayi, 28, swapped Marseille for west London in 2016, but he spent much of his existence in the capital on the periphery of first-team action.<\/p>\n

His most appearance-heavy campaign came in that debut 2016\/17 season with 20 Premier League outings, though only one came as a starter.<\/p>\n\n

In fact, across six years while contracted to Chelsea, Batshuayi made only five<\/em> Premier League starts, spending much of his time out on loan.<\/p>\n

During that nomadic existence touring the continent, the Belgian turned out for the likes of Borussia Dortmund, Valencia, Crystal Palace and Besiktas.<\/p>\n

This summer, his time in Cobham finally came to a permanent end as he returned to Istanbul to sign for Besiktas’ bitter adversaries Fenerbahce.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on his ultimately unfulfilled Chelsea career, Batshuayi has now revealed he was lead up the garden path by then manager Conte before joining the Blues.<\/p>\n

He told SPORT<\/em><\/a>: “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.”<\/span><\/p>\n

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