Michy Batshuayi appears to have pledged his foreseeable future to Olympique Marseille.
Batshuayi signed a new contract in January this year in a move that was widely believed to be designed to raise the striker’s asking price up to £30million, with the 22 year old striker now tied to Marseille until 2020.
West Ham are said to be prepared to pay £20m for Batshuayi in the summer but the player has said he is still keen to remain at Marseille, who signed him from Standard Liege in 2014.
“For me, the future is with Olympique Marseille,” said Batshuayi.
“I like it here, there’s a magnificent stadium, good players that I love.
“I want to stay, I love the club as a whole: the club, the supporters, the joy.”
“Whether in Europe or not, it will not change. I began my story with OM, and I find that my story with OM is still far from over.”
Olympique Marseille coach Michel is determined to keep hold of Benjamin Mendy and Michy Batshuayi.
Michel is aware of the rumours and says Mendy and Micy must be kept.
“I would keep Michy (Batshuayi) and Mendy. They are two young players still learning. They have to play,” said Michel.
Not concerned about those quotes at all. As he is still a Marseille player he is merely saying the right things here in order to placate the fans and maybe also his teammates.
Don’t underestimate the pull Payet being at West Ham will create.
Not only have they worked well together as a pair on the pitch before, they are also friends and apparently Payet will use this relationship by way of being in Batshuayi’s ear, waxing lyrical about West Ham, persuading him to come here.
I wouldn’t be surprised actually if negotiations were taking place behind the scenes as we speak.
I imagine a lot of people on here follow exwesthamemployee. He seems to know everything that’s going on and he says he would be shocked if the transfer didn’t go through despite all the talk and new contract etc. He has also said we are looking to grab Mendy and Nkoudou who is a real talent. I understand why we need a winger to replace Moses but Mendy is a little more than cover for left back. He would need regular games to be tempted surely? Thoughts?
I don’t think it will be a shoe in! Money will talk and if he available in the summer we may face competition from Spurs and other Premier League clubs all wanting a 20 goal per season striker. Next season’s TV deal will all 20 clubs have the funds to make massive bids and I expect their to be a bidding war as player prices are inflated in line with the five billion pound deal.
In the past Sullivan has refused to get involved in bidding wars if we end up paying more for a player than his market value. Time will tell but I am told we have many irons in the fire and Batshuayi is not our only target.
Again though we all know about player power these days. I can imagine a scenario where Batshuayi may really want to join West Ham to be reunited with his pal Payet.
So, let’s say West Ham offer 25 million for the player, but other clubs like Spurs offer more (30 million or so).
If the player has his heart set on a West Ham move, does it even matter if another club offers more ? A transfer doesn’t happen if the player doesn’t want to leave for a certain club. Maybe wishful thinking this, but what if Batshuayi tells Marseille behind closed doors that he would only consider a move to West Ham ?
At that point it wouldn’t really matter if Spurs or Man U offered a higher fee.
I consider the Payet factor to be a massive advantage for us here.
No-one really knows how bigger friends Payet and Batshuayi are! No disrespect to Payet but if Batshuayi could play regular Champions football with Manchester City or Arsenal he might jump at the chance. I think his connection with Payet is over played as no-one really knows how much a factor it would be.
Sean. Of course nothing is certain but with ex ( who is hardly ever wrong) being so convinced and young Jack posing in a Batshuayi shirt there appears to be plenty of smoke and there’s no smoke without fire. Just saying….
Spuds want Barahino and at £22 million they won’t be in for 2 players the same,
Gooners have to let players go if they want him,
If he joins either of them it will leave other hood targets for us,
But one thing is for sure he won’t have that many friends at either of those clubs or players that can link up with him like Payet,
Let’s wait and see what happens we could end up in the same European Comps as either of the above,
I trust Slav and the 2 Daves to find the players we need for next season