Michy Batshuayi on life at Borussia Dortmund: "It's just perfect here, like a family"
Michy Batshuayi has certainly looked at home in his first few weeks at Borussia Dortmund and the Belgium striker has now confessed how much he is enjoying life at the Bundesliga giants.
"At Chelsea I didn't have it easy," the loanee told Belgian outlet Sporza. "By contrast, it's going really well here with my teammates and the fans. I was really welcomed. It's just perfect here, like a family. That's what I need."
"Confidence is very, very important for a footballer. It's fantastic. I always want to score in front of the Yellow Wall!"
Watch: A tactical breakdown of Batshuayi's impact at BVB!
Batshuayi has certainly hit the ground running in BVB colours: a late winner, his second goal of the game, in the UEFA Europa League against Atalanta in midweek further endeared the 24-year-old to the Signal Iduna Park faithful, following a goal and assist against Hamburg last weekend and a brace on debut against Cologne.
A total of five goals in three games has proved the perfect tonic for BVB's mid-season struggles, with Batshuayi's social-media antics and self-proclaimed 'Batsman' status also causing hilarity among Bundesliga fans.
It all stands in stark contrast to the Belgian's time at Chelsea. The Brussels native scored 12 goals in 26 games in all competitions for the Blues this season, but was allowed to leave on loan in January after the west London club brought in Olivier Giroud from Arsenal, who had initiated a three-way transfer merry go-round by signing Batshuayi's Dortmund predecessor, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Want more Bundesliga Action?
"Sitting on the bench, scoring, sitting on the bench, scoring, only then to be on the bench again was hard," said Batshuayi, whose contract at Chelsea runs until 2021, reflecting on the first half of the season at Stamford Bridge.
There is no option to buy in the loan deal that took Batshuayi to Dortmund, but however things pan out, the forward is making all the right noises and impressing all concerned in the Ruhr valley.
"It was a clever move to bring him here," said Dortmund coach Peter Stöger. "Michy is the sort of player who fits perfectly into our style."
"He does a lot of work for us," said Batshuayi's teammate Julian Weigl. "When we're struggling to find a way through the opposition, he's a player who holds it up well. That's proving really, really good at the moment."
Wherever Batshuayi ends up after his short-term spell in Germany, it's safe to say he'll always have a home in Dortmund.
Click here for more Borussia Dortmund news, views and features!