Crystal Palace rumours: Eagles potential marked by Batshuayi bid?

Jamie Clark, Sports Editor | December 9, 2015

Reports in the tabloid press link high-flying Premier League side Crystal Palace with a winter window swoop for Marseille and Belgium striker Michy Batshuayi.

Following the Stade Velodrome side losing key attacking trio Andre Ayew, Andre-Pierre Giganc and Dimitri Payet this past summer, 22-year-old frontman Batshuayi is their latest prized asset.

Enigmatic Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsa also departed Marseille before the campaign got fully underway, and they are now widely regarded as a selling club.

Buying Batshuayi would bolster Eagles top six tilt

Batshuayi’s 10 goals and five assists in 17 Ligue 1 outings to date has helped propel L’OM up to ninth in the table under former Real Madrid playing favourite and Olympiakos boss Michel – just four points off a European place.

That has attracted winter window suitors, however, and the Eagles could offer Batshuayi the chance to further press his claims for a spot in Belgium’s Euro 2016 squad by moving to Selhurst Park this January.

A bid of £15m may be enough to bring Marseille to the table with Alan Pardew keen to bolster his team’s hopes of a top six finish, with Coral rating Palace 11/2 chances to achieve that.