Should Antonio Conte’s comments on Michy Batshuayi alert striker-shy Everton?

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Michy Batshuayi continues to find opportunities hard to come by at Chelsea, but would have plenty of takers elsewhere.

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte says that Michy Batshuayi has had enough chances to prove that he should play more often this season, according to the London Evening Standard.

Batshuayi is expected to start Chelsea’s EFL Cup quarter-final against Bournemouth on Wednesday, but has played only twice in the Premier League since scoring twice against Watford in October, and not as a starter.

Even during Alvaro Morata’s recent layoff with a back problem, Conte chose to play without a recognised centre forward rather than start the Belgian international he signed from Marseille last summer.

However, Conte has insisted that Batshuayi has had a fair opportunity this season and said that the only way for him to get more starts is to prove he is better than Morata or Eden Hazard.

Conte is quoted by the London Evening Standard as saying: “Against Huddersfield we won 3-1 and I think I made the best decision to start with Hazard, Pedro and Willian. It was the same against Southampton. Every game I’ve played Hazard, Pedro and Willian together, they’ve won. Last season and this season.”

“He has to show me that he’s better than Morata, or than Hazard. It’s very simple.

“But don’t forget that Michy, this season, is playing more than last season. Last season he didn’t play. He didn’t play and I think this season, if you consider his injury for a month, he had his chance.”

Conte’s challenge to Batshuayi is close to an impossible task as he is never going to dislodge Hazard or Morata from the Blues’ first team while he is getting as little playing time as he is currently.

It seems increasingly likely that Batshuayi’s future lies away from Stamford Bridge, and Everton would be wise to take a close look at the 24-year-old as they aim to solve their striker shortage in January.

The Toffees never replaced Romelu Lukaku in the summer and could offer Batshuayi a platform to prove himself in the Premier League based on his productive spells in France and his home country.

New Everton manager Sam Allardyce is currently relying on youngster Dominic Calvert-Lewin to lead his line, but will need more than that if he is to match the ambitions of the Goodison Park ownership.