Tony Cascarino: Why Chelsea's Michy Batshuayi is the deadliest striker in Premier League history

On target | Michy Batshuayi bagged a brace against Watford
Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Vaishali Bhardwaj23 October 2017

Tony Cascarino insists Michy Batshuayi should be appreciated by Chelsea fans because statistics show just how deadly a striker he has been since signing for the Blues last year.

Batshuayi has struggled to become first-choice at Chelsea since arriving from Marseille in a £33.1m deal in 2016, but has made a big impact from the bench - scoring six of his seven Premier League goals as a substitute.

Following his match-winning brace in Chelsea's 4-2 win over Watford on Saturday, stats show that Batshuayi now has a record of one goal every 60.57 minutes in the Premier League - more than the likes of Thierry Henry and Sergio Aguero.

And Cascarino believes the 24-year-old's impact from the bench for Chelsea demonstrates just how important of a player he is to Antonio Conte and the champions.

In Pictures | Chelsea vs Watford | 21/10/2017

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Writing in his column in The Times, Cascarino wrote: "I've heard an awful lot about what Michy Batshuayi cannot do but the one thing he can do is score goals and his record of one goal every 60.57 minutes makes him the most deadly striker in Premier League history.

"OK, he has only scored seven so far but, among players who have scored more than five, nobody has scored more often - and that includes legends such as Thierry Henry, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Sergio Aguero.

"Batshuayi is a throwback to the days of the supersub.

"These days you rarely send a player on with any expectation that they are going to score.

"Batshuayi offers a genuine threat and he should be appreciated."