Aston Villa lose a striker to injury, now interested in Chelsea’s Michy Batshuayi — report

Despite a combined 129 minutes of Premier League action, backup Chelsea strikers are a hot commodity. Lyon may have gotten themselves in a tug-of-war for Moussa Dembélé over their interest in Olivier Giroud, and now, according to Sky Sports News reporter Rob Dorsett, Aston Villa are reportedly checking on Michy Batshuayi.

Aston Villa are surely in the market thanks to Burnley leg-destroyer (ed.note: redundant) Ben Mee’s tackle on Villa striker Wesley. The scans aren’t yet confirmed, but noise around Villa Park is that there is cruciate ligament damage, which would surely end the club’s third leading goalscorer’s season.

The timing is pretty horrible for Aston Villa. They’ve finally climbed out of the relegation zone but only by one point, and their next league match is against Manchester City. Of course even if they somehow signed Kylian Mbappé they still wouldn’t have much of a chance at taking three points from City, but after that is a run of matches (Brighton, Watford, Bournemouth) that could go a long way in ensuring safety from the drop.

Of course with Olivier Giroud all but guaranteed to leave London this month, we would be silly to entertain any offers concerning Michy until we’ve announced [insert name of a striker here].

Personally, I respect Michy’s dedication to Chelsea and insistence on remaining at the club to fight for a place in the team. Unfortunately that hasn’t quite panned out, and his exit from Chelsea will likely happen this window or the next.