Global stocks sank Wednesday after US President Donald Trump said he was not satisfied with talks that are aimed at averting a trade war with China. Equities were also dented by poor eurozone economic data, and as Trump cast doubt on a planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. “Trump (is) continuing to drive uncertainty over global trade,” said analyst Joshua Mahony at trading firm IG. “European markets are following their Asian counterparts lower, as a pessimistic tone from Trump is compounded by downbeat economic data,” he added. Markets had surged Monday after US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He said they had agreed to pull back from imposing threatened tariffs on billions of dollars of goods, and continue talks on a variety of trade issues. However, Trump has declared that he was “not satisfied” with the status of the talks, fuelling worries that the world’s top two economies could still slug out an economically pain...
Michy Batshuayi is having a pretty good run in the Chelsea first team - with Alvaro Morata having missed the last three games - and he showed his worth with a brace versus Newcastle United in the FA Cup fourth round on Sunday.
His appearance at Stamford Bridge saw him make his fourth start in three weeks and he looked much sharper as a result.
He fired in a double to put himself just two goals behind Eden Hazard and Alvaro Morata in Chelsea's scoring charts this season on 10 strikes.
Chelsea ran out 3-0 winners on the afternoon with Marcos Alonso adding a trademark free-kick in the second half, while Antonio Conte gave a debut to academy starlet Callum Hudson-Odoi.
Many of Batshuayi’s goals have come against weaker teams but Batshuayi has been afforded few chances under Conte since arriving at the club in the summer of 2016.
Sunday's two-goal performance suggested that perhaps he has been a little harshly treated by his manager.
His finishing ability has never been in question at Chelsea having scored a goal every 99 minutes in a blue shirt. However, it is true that he lacks the presence offered by a Morata or Diego Costa as a target man, while his link up play is often lacking.
Conte likes his striker to be the pivot or focal point of the attack, allowing the likes of Hazard and Pedro to flourish behind the No.9, but Batshuayi has never convinced his manager in this respect.
The 24-year-old hasn't had the easiest of times adapting at Chelsea after stepping up from Ligue 1 to the Premier League in a £33 million move from Marseille. He didn't know the language and quickly discovered that his manager didn't have much trust in his ability.
There's no doubt Batshuayi is capable of developing into a better player but he needs to be playing games and his time at Chelsea has left him fearing for his World Cup place with Belgium.
Chelsea look set to loan Batshuayi to Sevilla this month providing they find a replacement, with the west Londoners in painstaking talks with Roma for their star striker Edin Dzeko.
Conte has performed miracles at Chelsea, winning the title last season after the club had finished tenth the year before, but he hasn't been able to get what he wanted out of the young Belgian.
Batshuayi may have worked better in a front two after initially being earmarked by Conte to work in a 4-2-4 system he was trialling when he first joined - but this formation never came to fruition.
Comments
Post a Comment