If Crystal Palace were plotting a January swoop for Michy Batshsuayi they will have been encouraged by words from his national coach.

Palace are widely believed to be in the market for a striker in January, with a mooted re-union with Chelsea’s Batshuayi high on the list of possibilities.

The forward impressed whilst on loan in the second half of last season scoring five goals in 11 appearances for the Eagles.

Returning to Chelsea in the summer however, the 26-year-old has found game time hard to come by under Frank Lampard with the Chelsea legend favouring Tammy Abraham and Olivier Giroud to lead the line.

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That said, Batshuayi has found the net three times for the Blues this term, twice in the EFL Cup and once in the league where he came off the bench against Southampton.

That goal return is the same as what he’s registered for the national side in their European qualifiers, with the most recent strike coming at the weekend against Kazakhstan,

Despite an impressive return on the international stage, Belgium boss Roberto Martinez is aware the forward requires more game time at domestic level if he is to improve.

“He doesn’t play enough at Chelsea. I think that’s a shame, even though he scores a lot with the national team,” Martinez said.

“I hope he will play more, because we really need him, but then he has to play.

“Otherwise a solution must be found.”

That ‘solution’ will be music to Roy Hodgson and Crystal Palace fans’ ears.

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The ‘Bats-Man’ endeared himself to the Palace faithful during his brief stint in SE25 and a return would be more than welcome considering the Eagles’ goal-shy attack.

Despite a positive start to the season Palace have only registered eight goals in nine games, two of which were from the spot.

There will be no shortage of takers for Batshuayi who joined Chelsea for £33million in 2016 from Marseille, but Palace hope the lure of a regular game time in a competitive outfit at Selhurst Park will prove too tempting.

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