Michy Batshuayi has launched an attack on Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte.
It was Conte who brought the Belgium international to English football in 2016 by signing him for Chelsea in a £33 million deal.
However, the 28-year-old hitman only wound up managing 236 minutes of Premier League football under the now-Tottenham boss during the 2016-17 campaign, spread across 20 appearances.
But the former Marseille marksman only signed for the Stamford Bridge outfit on the basis that he’d be starting alongside Diego Costa in a two-pronged attack every week, something he still holds a grudge for Conte over.
He told Sport Magazine: “Conte was constantly contradicting himself. To start with my arrival. He called me and explained his project. He wanted me to play in a two-man frontline alongside Diego Costa. Did I believe that? Of course, because Conte has played with two attackers all his career. Except at Chelsea with me. I do not understand. The truth is that I have been fooled far too often.”
The problem is, Chelsea won the Premier League title that season.
So although Batshuayi – now at Fenerbahce – has lingering resentment against the Spurs boss, you can hardly argue the team as a whole didn’t benefit from the Italian manager’s overall plan.
The truth is, Conte is a world-class coach and someone who’s been successful at virtually every club he’s ever managed.
This is his first full season at Tottenham and there’s a good chance he’ll steer the Lilywhites toward something, too.
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