Chelsea can sign the new Diego Costa to correct £216m error and complete Mauricio Pochettino

 The year is 2018, Romelu Lukaku is bullying Premier League defences for Manchester United, Kalidou Koulibaly is heading away bombs from the Napoli penalty area, Andre Onana is set for an unexpected run to the Champions League semi-final with Ajax and Diego Costa has been one year away from Chelsea. 

Since then things have been quite different. Lukaku has been and gone from England, twice, Koulibaly has continued to garner interest from the top teams before finally completing a move to Chelsea, Onana is a Champions League final worthy goalkeeper and Costa is still running around being Costa.

 Now Lukaku is 30 and far from a certainty to lead the line for Mauricio Pochettino next year.

Martinez is now showing levels of consitency that will make him attractive to the best clubs, though. At 25 he is bendable to a highly demanding coach. His dogged Argentine workrate is suited to Pochettino and could even see him link-up with World Cup compatriate Enzo Fernandez. 

That trio would be a new look for Chelsea and one that brings with it a weight of goals. Martinez has 20 for the season in Serie A, he got 21 last term and 17 with 10 assists the year before. As a growing and learning player he has 78 strikes in 170 games and is one away from 100 for the club.

The worry here is that Chelsa have tried Italy's best. Lukaku was tied to Milan and struggled to get his head and his heart back into London upon the move in 2021. The Belgian blasted in 24 on the way to winning the league with Inter that season and combined spectaculary with Martinez.

It was reported that around £70m would lure him away from Italy over the past 12 months but his latest exploits only increase that, especially for Chelsea who have already taken their prized asset in Lukaku. What Martinez does off the ball and also in his frantic but aggressive play is combine an element of Costa and Lukaku together into a profile that will intrigue fans.

He's not as big-name as Victor Osimhen or as Premier League proven as Ivan Toney. He isn't as young as other options or as experienced as Harry Kane. Martinez is a player that would still be a risk but perhaps one that Chelsea fans can get behind.