Frank Lampard has reiterated that Michy Batshuayi will not be leaving Chelsea this summer.
Blues boss Lampard recently admitted that the likes of Davide Zappacosta, who has since joined Roma, could go, but dismissed reports that out-of-favour striker Batshuayi might leave before the European transfer window closes on 2 September.
Lampard has continued to overlook the Belgian but again made it clear at a news conference on Friday that he plans to keep him.
Chelsea have been under a transfer ban, with Olivier Giroud and youngster Tammy Abraham currently the only recognised strikers available.
“We need Michy. We need the competition up front with the strikers we have,” Lampard said.
However, there is a strong chance that other fringe players could follow Zappacosta out of Stamford Bridge.
Tiemoue Bakayoko and Kenedy are not in Lampard’s plans and have attracted interest from a number of clubs, although an offer from Monaco to take their former player Bakayoko on loan has been rejected because Chelsea were unhappy with the terms of the proposed deal.
“We’ll see. Nothing is clear at the moment,” Lampard said.
“They are all our players and I’m happy with the squad. As it stands no one is leaving.
“We cannot bring players in so we have to be careful with the squad.”
Meanwhile, Lampard has revealed that N’Golo Kante is struggling with new injury and is a doubt for Saturday’s trip to Norwich.
This post was last modified on 23/08/2019