Chelsea's £33m deal thwarts Crystal Palace and Tottenham as Antonio Conte makes his first signing.

Antonio Conte has moved swiftly to secure his first Chelsea signing with the £33m, five-year deal to secure the services of Michy Batshuayi from Marseille. It's the Italian's first summer signing and a real statement of intent ahead of the new season.

The 22-year-old had become the subject of real interest from various clubs in the Premier League with Marseille having to raise funds within the next few days to pay off French authorities. Not only Palace and Tottenham were interested, West Ham were also reported to be talking to his advisors but Chelsea have swooped in to get the deal done.

Michy Batshuayi scored as a late substitute for Belgium the other night in their 4-0 win over Hungary and it's worth noting the link up play with Eden Hazard, who we hope to be playing alongside him next season.

The young Belgian has a real presence about him, has pace to burn, two footed with a real eye for goal and the signing is one that plenty of Chelsea supporters would welcome with obvious comparisons being made to Didier Drogba who we also signed from Marseille many years ago.

Chelsea seem to prefer a presence up top compared to the quick, pacey strikers that like to run in behind and Michy Batshuayi is no different as you will see below.

This deal could raise doubts about the future of Diego Costa at Chelsea with continued reports linking Conte with Alvaro Morata. Loic Remy looks to be on his way to Turkey with Falcao and Pato also returning to their current clubs. 

I sincerely hope that Costa stays but I wonder if he will now ?

I will say this, Michy Batshuayi is a really good young talent and if he can kick on and build on the quality he has, we could have the next Drogba on our hands! What Odds would you give Chelsea this season ahead of the new Premier League campaign to get back into the top four? 

What do you think of the signing?