Pochettino plan could be ruined by Real Madrid in two ways as Chelsea target ‘one of world’s best’

Real Madrid could hold the key to Mauricio Pochettino’s summer transfer plans as Chelsea prepare to battle the Spanish giants for a brilliant centre-forward.

Chelsea owner Todd Boehly does not plan to slow down his investment at Stamford Bridge despite spending over £600m in his first season after taking over the club from Roman Abramovich.

The Blues and newly-appointed manager Pochettino hope to sign between three and six players this summer while offloading many more in a ruthless squad rebuild.

READ MORE: Arsenal and Pochettino will battle over Inter’s brilliant Bull for good reason this summer

One of the main positions they wish to improve in is at centre-forward, with Victor Osimhen among the reported targets.

But Lautaro Martinez, the Champions League finalist with Inter, has ‘a long-time admirer’ in Pochettino, who ‘believes he is among the best strikers in the world’.

Chelsea could therefore pursue the World Cup winner but The Times add that they ‘are expecting to face competition’ from Real Madrid as the Spanish side are ‘understood to have identified him as a potential signing this summer’.

With Karim Benzema leaving for Saudi Arabian club Al Ittihad, Real are having to bring forward their plans to sign a striker, listing Spurs stalwart Harry Kane and even Havertz of Chelsea among their shortlisted options.

But Havertz might prove to be out of financial reach for Real, who have agreed a £115m deal to sign Jude Bellingham.

Chelsea can therefore not depend on any cash injection from Real, who might also switch their attention to Martinez instead of Havertz.

But Pochettino has already sanctioned the departure of N’Golo Kante, the midfielder bound for Al-Ittihad, as well as Mateo Kovacic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Mason Mount, who are in talks with Manchester City, AC Milan and Man Utd respectively.

Many more exits are expected as Pochettino moulds a team built by about 427 different managers.

“For all the challenges of the past year, we are optimistic about the future,” Boehly told fans in a recent statement.

“We are looking forward to welcoming Mauricio Pochettino as the head coach of our men’s team in July.

“We are building a modern scouting, talent identification, and recruiting infrastructure within our sporting department, led by Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley, which will help us to identify and transform the squad around elite talent, a squad capable of consistently competing to win the Premier League, raise domestic cups and compete and win at the highest level in European football.”