Chelsea forward Michy Batshuayi is reportedly expected to join Premier League club Crystal Palace on loan this summer.
According to the Daily Mail, the Blues striker is going to make a switch to Palace on a season-long loan for the 2020/21 campaign.
The 26-year-old previously had a brief successful spell at Selhurst Park, where he scored six goals in just 13 appearances for Palace.
The report explains though that the Belgium international will first pen a one-year contract extension at Stamford Bridge before departing.
Batshuayi’s current deal, which is believed to be worth £100,000-a-week (Spotrac), is expiring next summer but Chelsea want to extend that to the following summer to avoid him leaving on a free transfer.
The centre-forward famously scored the goal that clinched the 2016/17 Premier League title for Chelsea under ex-manager Antonio Conte, but his career in West London has never really taken off despite a handful of memorable moments.
He managed six goals in 24 games last season for the Blues across all competitions to show a decent game-to-goal ratio, but was unable to nail down a spot in Frank Lampard’s XI and blew a few chances to do just that.
Batshuayi has previously had loan spells at Palace, Borussia Dortmund and Valencia, and is the kind of frontman that can be a success if given a run of starts due to his poacher-like instincts.
Chelsea have now got a new elite striker in Timo Werner to mean Batshuayi is fourth in the pecking order, but perhaps he can increase his price tag during the next year on loan at Palace.