Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino is a “long time admirer” of Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez and he is keen on bringing him to Stamford Bridge, according to The Times.

The club’s new head coach appears to have identified the Argentinian international as one of his priority targets with the Blues aiming to recruit a new number nine this summer.

Martinez does have other potential suitors, though, with Real Madrid weighing up a move for the forward following the departure of Karim Benzema to Al-Ittihad.

Ironically, the Spanish club have contemplated a bid for Kai Havertz but, with Chelsea holding out for as much as £70m for the German, they are considering Martinez as an alternative.

Inter are expected to hold out for a sizeable fee to sell their top scorer

Like Havertz, Martinez’s price tag is believed to be around £70m, and it remains to be seen whether Real would be able to compete with Chelsea at that price if they can’t afford Havertz either.

For a player who has been in outstanding form in front of goal this season, though, it is not a valuation that is unreasonable, especially if you compare it to other strikers on the transfer market.

Chelsea have been scouting a number of forwards

In addition to Martinez, the Blues have also been tracking the likes of Napoli’s Victor Osimhen, Juventus’s Dusan Vlahovic, Montpellier’s Elye Wahi and Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic.

When you factor in how much some of these players would cost, such as Osimhen, who has an asking price of around €150m (£129m), Martinez would seem like value for money.

Over the course of his five-year spell at Inter, he has averaged a goal every 2.3 matches, which isn’t a bad ratio by any means, considering how defensive Serie A can be. We shall see if Chelsea step up their interest in the 25-year-old over the coming weeks.