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.
Despite spending £216m on strikers or players to get goals, the closest anyone has come to matching Costa's 52 goals across three seasons - with two 20 goal a year episodes in there - is 15 from academy star Tammy Abraham. Now Lukaku is 30 and far from a certainty to lead the line for Mauricio Pochettino next year.
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Koulibaly is a Chelsea player, Onana is heavily linked with becoming one and there is still nobody to fill the boots left by Costa. Although there is potential for Pochettino to blitz Lukaku into shape in pre-season it is far from a guaranteed source of goals.
The best place to look for new No.9s is often in Europe and as Lukaku's current teammate, Lautaro Martinez, helped his team to the Champions League final, 2018 called once more. The Blues have been linked with signing him since his move to Italy, pretty much. He was the replacement for Mauro Icardi, another player destined to end up at Stamford Bridge in his late 30s.
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.
"He’s a fabulous player," waxed Owen Hargreaves after the 1-0 win over AC Milan. "The way he leads the line reminds me a bit of Carlos Tevez. How aggressive he is, but he’s got a great touch, always running forward.
“Martinez has been fantastic. What a fabulous player! He can press, is a good finisher, and has good link-up play. He literally gives you everything you need from a centre-forward.”
Former Inter and Argentina great, Javier Zanetti, has joined the bandwagon, saying: “Lautaro is part of a great journey, he grows from year to year.
"He is a fundamental player, one we wish to keep, at least for now. Let's enjoy it, he's happy here, it's his home. I hope it can be for a long time."
Martinez has not been linked as strongly as other players to Stamford Bridge but there appears to be a fundamental understanding and buy-in to hard-working front-men between him and Pochettino. His passion and channelled anger is in-line with Costa's own on-edge style and is the sort of thing that can be seen getting the crowd going once more.
It would be unlikely to see both Lukaku and Martinez at Chelsea together but at this point he is possibly the preferred option having not torched his relationship with the London club like his teammate did.
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