Antonio Conte has warned Bournemouth that Michy Batshuayi is ready to unleash months of frustration on Boxing Day.
Having arrived from Marseille for a huge fee of £33.2million in the summer, the striker has found first-team football hard to come by, with all of his 10 Premier League appearances coming from the bench.
The rebirth of Diego Costa, who has scored 13 goals this season, is the main reason for Batshuayi's lack of action.
But Costa's suspension for today's clash is expected to see the Belgium striker get his chance.
Sevilla and West Ham are both interested in taking Batshuayi on loan next month, but Conte believes the 23-year-old is ready to show his worth.
'Michy, if I decide to put him in the starting XI, is ready to play,' said the manager. 'It's not important to talk and put more pressure on him. He must do what he knows, what we are doing in the training sessions and only this. Michy is here because he deserves to stay here.
'His attitude, his behaviour, have been fantastic. He wants to improve his quality. Technical quality, physical quality.
'We are working a lot with him on tactical aspects but he's showing great commitment, great work-rate in training, great passion.
'For sure, he wants to play and it's not easy when you have Costa in front of you. Above all this Costa, who is playing fantastic football and scoring a lot of goals.
'But it's important for Michy to continue to work, to continue to improve. I'm sure his moment will arrive.'
Even if Batshuayi impresses today, the likelihood is that he'll be back on the bench for the New Year's Eve clash against Stoke when Costa returns from his ban.
And Conte has advised Batshuayi to learn from the Spain striker.
'Michy is different if you compare him to Diego,' said Conte. '(But) to stay close to Diego, you can learn a lot to improve your experience and improve your skills. Mail Online
Â