A former Chelsea star was attacked by a club mascot in a bizarre incident that occurred last Saturday.
The player concerned made 48 appearances for the Blues in a six-year stay at Stamford Bridge from 2016 to 2022.
Michy Batshuayi may not have made much of an impression during his time in west London but he was the centre of attention for current club Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday after being involved in an altercation with the team’s mascot.
Named Attila and known as the King of the Skies, the golden eagle has been a regular at games since the 2006-07 season.
Following Frankfurt’s 1-0 win against Stuttgart in which Batshuayi was an unused substitute, he approached Attila on the pitch as the bird of prey was being paraded by his handler.
But the striker moved too close to Attila, who subsequently hit Batshuay in the face with its wing, only for the bird’s handler to respond by laughing.
The player concerned made 48 appearances for the Blues in a six-year stay at Stamford Bridge from 2016 to 2022
Named Attila and known as the King of the Skies, the golden eagle has been a regular at games since the 2006-07 season
Taking to social media in reaction to the incident, one fan joked: ‘Bird is just testing his reflexes.’
A second added: ‘Now he is blessed by Atilla.’
Another user quipped: ‘The eagle got his revenge on him for what he did to Besiktas.’
Beginning his career at Standard Liege, a successful stint for Ligue 1 side Marseille saw him move to Chelsea in 2016 for a fee of £33.2 million.
However, he struggled for regular minutes in the capital but did manage to score 25 goals in 77 appearances.
He was subsequently loaned out to Borussia Dortmund and Valencia before returning to the Premier League via two separate loan spells with Crystal Palace.
He then moved to Fenerbahce in 2022 before a spell with their fierce rivals Galatasaray earlier this campaign before returning to the Bundesliga in January.
He has scored two goals in five league appearances for his current club, who sit third in the table and are well placed for Champions League qualification as things stand.
