West Ham face battle to land Chelsea striker Michy Batshuayi

Turkish giants Fenerbahce look set to rival Slaven Bilic’s West Ham for Chelsea striker Michy Batshuayi, according to Turkish newspaper Fanatik (via Sport Witness).

The Belgian international only moved to Stamford Bridge last summer from Marseille, but struggled to dispose Diego Costa as Antonio Conte’s number one forward in West London, starting just one Premier League game, and coming on as a substitute on 19 occasions.

Nonetheless, he still managed five league goals and four in the domestic cup competitions, and although it looks like he’s got potential, it doesn’t look like his short-term future lies at Chelsea, and thus has attracted interest from clubs in England, and indeed further afield.

And recent reports suggest that Bilic’s West Ham will have a battle on their hands to land Batshuayi on loan this summer, as Fenerbahce are reportedly eyeing up a move as well.

The Turkish outfit finished third in the Super Lig this term, 13 points behind champions Besiktas, yet will get the chance to compete in Europe, as third place offers them a place in the Europa League third qualifying round.

Whether a European adventure is enough to persuade Batshuayi away from England remains to be seen, yet reports suggest that Fenerbahce are ‘confident’ of landing the 23-year-old ahead of West Ham, who themselves need to strengthen after a below-par Premier League campaign.

Bilic’s men could only muster an 11th place finish this term, four places below their 2015/16 effort, and more firepower is needed to take the burden off Michail Antonio and Andy Carroll, both of whom missed sizeable chunks of the season through injury.

Yet whether they can get a deal done for the £21.25 million-rated top talent (as per Transfermarkt) ahead of Fenerbahce very much remains to be seen.