Chelsea boss Antonio Conte has revealed that he intends to include Michy Batshuayi in his squad to face Bournemouth on Wednesday, effectively ruling out a deadline-day exit.
The Belgium international was expected to be offloaded in the remaining hours of the January transfer window in search of regular first-team action elsewhere, either permanently or on a temporary deal.
Borussia Dortmund are rumoured to have shown a strong interest in Batshuayi, seeing him as a perfect stopgap solution to the exit of Arsenal-bound Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang until the end of the campaign.
Conte does not expect any outgoing business between now and tomorrow night's cut-off point, however, which coincides with Chelsea's home match against Bournemouth.
"He is in contention for tomorrow's game. I don't know [about a move to Dortmund]," he said at his pre-match press conference. "Now, he is a Chelsea player and for this reason he is in contention.
"[Alvaro] Morata is still injured and I don't have other options, especially as Willian is also injured. [Eden] Hazard can play number nine but then to find a solution to find another number 10.
"It's not simple, this situation with Batshuayi. There is only one day [left in the window]. It's not the best situation for me or the player but, as you know very well, the transfer market in January is not simple to find a solution for players coming in and going out.
"But the player knows very well the situation. Today he trained well and I prepared the game with him. You don't know what will happen tonight or tomorrow. We must be ready to face every situation. It's not the best situation to face, but we have to face it."
Should Batshuayi remain at Stamford Bridge, it may have a knock-on effect in Arsenal's pursuit of Aubameyang.
Daniel Lewis
