Crystal Palace put ‘a lot of money into Chelsea’s pocket’ – that’s how they won transfer battle for Batshuayi
Eagles boss Roy Hodgson says his club has excellent relationship with Blues after hiking up Ruben Loftus-Cheek's value following loan stint
CRYSTAL PALACE bagged Michy Batshuayi because they “put a lot of money into Chelsea’s pocket,” according to Roy Hodgson.
The Eagles pulled off a coup signing the Chelsea striker on deadline day after his loan with Valencia was cancelled.
Palace only paid around £1million to land the 25-year-old despite Tottenham being quoted £8m and West Ham £4m.
Hodgson reckons the positive relationship between Palace and Chelsea, largely thanks to Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s successful stint on loan last season, was a major factor.
The former England manager will now have Christian Benteke, Conor Wickham, Wilfried Zaha and Andros Townsend alongside Batshuayi as his attacking options.
He said: “I can’t say I’m surprised about it, I’m very pleased about it.
“A lot of it has to do with the relationship with Chelsea and Crystal Palace, Chelsea people and our chairman, Steve Parish.
“I thought we did a very good job last year for Chelsea with Ruben Loftus-Cheek, he did a great job for us, we didn’t exactly send him back as a worse player or a player with less value, I think that stands in our favour.
“He came to us as a player from the Chelsea reserves who very rarely got a game outside of the League Cup.
"He went back an England international whose value will have probably tripled or quadrupled, so I think you could also say Crystal Palace put a lot of money into Chelsea’s pocket.
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“I think maybe the way the team plays and the people that watch us are thinking about joining a team will think ‘they’re not a bad football team’.
"And of course the fact that people like Ray Lewington and myself have very good experience that can also play a part in it.”
Batshuayi came off the bench and made an impact on his Palace debut in the 2-0 win over Fulham on Saturday.
His close-range shot was parried by Cottagers keeper Sergio Rico and Jeffrey Schlupp was on hand to tap in the rebound to seal a vital win for Hodgson’s men to go 14th in the Premier League.
After his cameo, Batshuayi told the club website: “I’m going to bring as much as I can to help the team win and get some game time to be at my best.
“(The win over Fulham was) very important, it’s good for the team and for me.
“I feel good but I need to train with the team so to have the whole team together will be something that’s good.
“I spent one day (with them) before training and with the coach.”