Standard Liege owner Roland Duchatelet has moved to play down reports linking star man Michy Batshuayi with a summer move to English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur, while confirming that S.L. Benfica are keen on the 20-year-old.
The Belgium Under-21 international, who joined Standard Liege from Brussels in 2008, has been on sensational goal-scoring form for the Jupiler Pro League giants this season, having netted 18 goals in 29 league appearances for the table toppers.
Batshuayi has been linked with a number of top European clubs in recent weeks, most notably North London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham, but Les Rouches are not in a must-sell position, with the player under contract at the club until the summer of 2018.
That being said, an offer in the region of £10 million could tempt Duchatelet to cash in on the highly-rated Belgian.
“There’s another European giant interested in Batshuayi”, Duchatelet told La Derniere Heure. “There’s no interest from Tottenham as far as I know.
“I’ve talked to the strong man of Spurs [club chairman Daniel Levy] on Thursday and he has confirmed to me that they don’t want to sign Batshuayi.
“Benfica, though, have contacted us. They have confirmed they want to sign Batshuayi.”
Batshuayi is also attracting interest from Everton, who will surely lose Romelu Lukaku when his loan expires at the end of the season, and Serie A strugglers AC Milan, according to reports.
Celtic manager Neil Lennon plays down Macheda link
Celtic F.C. boss Neil Lennon has rubbished reports linking Manchester United striker Federico Macheda with a move to the Scottish Premier League in the next transfer window.
Macheda, who is currently plying his trade in the English Championship with Birmingham City, has tallied eight goals and two assists in 25 Championship appearances for Birmingham and Doncaster this term.
The former Italy youth star, 22, is expected to leave Old Trafford when his contract expires at the end of the season and recent speculation had suggested the Scottish champions were interested in the 22-year-old.
“There is nothing in that story at all,” Lennon said. “We have been aware of his availability over previous transfer windows but have not pursued that. You never say never but it is just wild speculation at the minute.
“We have an extensive list of players that we are looking at with a view to bringing here in the summer. We are certainly looking at four or five positions.
“I am pretty sure that players will be leaving in the summer. I have no indication of how many but players will be leaving, I would imagine.
“Striker is always a priority position but at the minute we have very good players in that position: Leigh Griffiths is just in the door and is really settling in well.
“But if there is a quality striker out there that we can afford, and we feel can make us better, we will pursue it.”
Macheda is priced at 6/1 to open the scoring when Birmingham City visit The Den to face Millwall on Tuesday night.
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