Chelsea have been dealt a blow ahead of potentially ambitious summer. The Blues are once again poised to be one of the busiest sides across Europe as they seek to improve on their current results.
Having finished 12th last year under Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter and Frank Lampard and spending over £600million in the process on new players, the Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital ownership has it all to do again. Although there have been marked improvements made under Mauricio Pochettino this season, changes are afoot again.
Pochettino is set to be assessed by the club in the summer as they look ahead to their short, medium and long-term plans. Chelsea fans have started to make their own opinions clear on the subject already, booing the manager and chanting against him in recent weeks when performances have dipped.
The 52-year-old is set to improve on not only cup performances but also Chelsea’s league position; however, a failure to bring consistency to his young squad has seen pressure ramp up at regular intervals throughout the campaign. Now, with all options still on the table heading into the final two months of the season, two candidates for differing roles appear to be off the cards.
No matter who is in charge come August, there are more transfers on the horizon. Chelsea will not only need to sell players yet again to ensure their continued compliance with stringent Premier League financial rules, but despite the mammoth spending across the past two years, there are still gaps in the squad.
One of those is at centre forward. Despite Nicolas Jackson’s impressive debut season at Stamford Bridge, he has not yet shown himself to be a reliable goalscorer capable of pushing a side towards Champions League football. Chelsea are expected to go looking for their next No. 9, and attention will once again turn to one of the leading marksmen on the planet.
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Lautaro Martinez is once again on the radar for top clubs across the planet as he fires Inter towards the league title in Italy. With 23 goals in Serie A and four assists for the club captain, he has proven himself to be one of the most clinical in the business.
The Argentine has scored more than 20 league goals in each of his last three seasons, as well as 14 and 17 in the two years prior. Alongside a creative streak in often a strike partnership, he is being watched by a number of eager clubs. Martinez is committed to Inter but will only have two years left on his contract come the summer, putting his future in a potentially precarious position.
The same is true of his manager, Simone Inzaghi. As the coach behind Inter’s push to the Champions League final last season and a dominant follow-up, the former Lazio striker has emerged as one of the hottest names in the game.
His deal is only until 2025, opening him up to the conversation around the impending vacancies at some of Europe’s top clubs, including Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, and possibly Newcastle, Manchester United, or Chelsea.
Reports suggest that the 47-year-old is of interest to Boehly-Clearlake as they monitor their options moving forward. However, Inter are determined to keep their man.
“These are issues that interest you more than us, said CEO Giuseppe Marotta to Rai. “There are no problems when the positions converge in continuing. This is the case with Lautaro Martinez, and it will certainly be the same with Inzaghi because Inter have grown and today he is a winning coach.
“He made it to the nominations for best coach and coaches at Inter, who are a great club. We would like to stay, he has a contract until 2025 and there are the conditions for him to stay.”
With the prospect of more success at San Siro, it is a hard sell for Chelsea to pitch their own faultering project. Marotta’s words may now put an end to any speculation linking the pair with a move to SW6.
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