Everton and Arsenal left waiting on £8m Batshuayi after Liege's spat with agent



Everton and Arsenal may struggle to strike a deal with Standard Liege for £8million-rated striker Michy Batshuayi after the Belgian club issued a withering statement regarding the player's agent.

Liege say they intend to take up the issue with FIFA after Christophe Henrotay was quoted earlier this week about Batshuayi, revealing that a number of clubs were keen to sign him.

Borussia Dortmund have also been linked with the 20-year-old Belgium U21 international and Henrotay told Sudpresse: 'There are Premier League clubs that are following him closely, but that's all. The interest from other big leagues is more serious.

Target: Arsenal and Everton are still trailing Standard Liege's Michy Batshuayi

'I'm still surprised by the way Standard communicates about Michy. The situation is very simple: if a club triggers his release clause, he can start negotiating with a club. I've the mandate to negotiate a transfer.

'At this moment there are no clubs that offered the full amount to trigger the clause. My player is still happy at Standard. For sure. But there's a lot of interest in him. It's getting hot. When a club decides to trigger his clause, it's up to Michy to decide.'

Standard have reacted angrily to Henrotay's reported remarks and released a statement saying: 'Standard Liege wishes to challenge FIFA regarding practices of Mr Christophe Henrotay, licensed FIFA agent.

'Mr Henrotay has, in recent months, made a number of representations to several clubs (in English Premier League for the most part) to offer them to acquire Michy Batshuayi.

'Mr Henrotay tries to convince him to break his contract with Standard Liege, while it has recently been reviewed and extended until 2017.



'The club regrets this approach, the more so when the player himself has repeatedly said and repeated his desire to finish the season with the goal of delivering a title to Standard and finish as top-scorer.