Soccer-Batshuayi joins Valencia on loan from Chelsea
VALENCIA, Aug 10 (Reuters) - La Liga side Valencia have signed Belgium striker Michy Batshuayi on a one-season loan deal from Chelsea, the two teams said on Friday.
Batshuayi joined Chelsea in 2016 from Olympique de Marseille for a reported 33 million pounds ($42 million) and only struck five league goals in his first campaign, although he scored in a 1-0 win at West Bromwich Albion which clinched the 2016/2017 Premier League title.
He struck 10 goals in all competitions in his second season with Chelsea but in January was loaned out to Borussia Dortmund, where he scored seven times in 10 Bundesliga appearances.
Valencia finished fourth in La Liga last season to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in three years, allowing Batshuayi to play in Europe's elite competition while Chelsea will be in the Europa League.
Batshuayi made three appearances at the 2018 World Cup. While celebrating Belgium's winning goal against England, he ended up being smacked hard in the face by the ball.
($1 = 0.7833 pounds) (Reporting by Richard Martin, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
