Jackson Martinez (Porto)
This prolific Colombian striker looks to be next on Jose Mourinho’s list if he misses out on his main target Wayne Rooney. Martinez had an excellent first season in Portugal with Porto, scoring 34 goals in 43 appearances for the club, and attracting interest from all around Europe for much of this summer.
Strong, fast, and lethal in front of goal, the 26-year-old looks like the final missing ingredient to cement Chelsea’s status as title favourites, and would arguably be an even better option than Rooney, who failed to find his best fitness and form for Manchester United last season. With a minimum release fee clause of around £35million, he could also be cheaper than Rooney, with United possibly set to hold out for bids of £40million to avoid selling the England star to one of their direct title rivals.
The signings of Mangala, De Rossi and Martinez would likely come to a total of £80million or more spent by Chelsea, but with money also brought in from likely sales of some squad players, it could be excellent business by wealthy Blues owner Roman Abramovich, as Mourinho is more than capable of assembling a world class squad to challenge on all fronts this season.