Tonight's UEFA Champions League final comes at an unusual time for football fans. The domestic season concluded two weeks ago and focus is already on the 2023/24 season for many.
However, due to the FIFA World Cup pausing club football for over a month back in November and December, the final fixture of this campaign's Champions League in Istanbul takes place 10 days into June.
The prestigious event sees Manchester City take on Italian giants Inter Milan in what's set to be a mouth-watering encounter between the two sides. Victory for either will mark a historic landmark with City aiming to finish a near-perfect season by winning the treble.
Yet, despite the abnormal notion surrounding this season's final, new Chelsea head coach Mauricio Pochettino will be watching the Istanbul showpiece with a keen eye. The Argentine wants to sign a new goalkeeper, defender and attacker this summer, football.london understands, and has the opportunity to personally scout two of his targets.
Inter Milan's Andre Onana and Lautaro Martinez have both been the subject of interest from Chelsea in recent weeks. No formal move has, yet, been sanctioned by Todd Boehly, with decisions expected to be made after the final.
The Blues are very keen on Onana to become their new number one and have been left impressed with his performances in the Champions League. This season, the Cameroon international has kept eight clean sheets in 12 games - the most this season - in a superb first season in Italy.
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If reports are to be believed, Chelsea have already tested Inter's resolve with four separate swap offers that would have seen Kepa Arrizabalaga, Edouard Mendy, Mateo Kovacic and Kalidou Koulibaly move to the San Siro. All were turned down.
It's understood that £52million will be the asking price supplied to Todd Boehly in the coming days - a fee that would see him become the joint-record transferred goalkeeper alongside Thibaut Courtois.
In Martinez’s case, he has only recently resurfaced as a potential target for Chelsea. According to 90min, the Blues have joined Real Madrid and Manchester United in the race to sign the World Cup winner. The report adds that he is expected to leave Italy following the final after his best season of his Inter career.
Valued at €100million (£85million) by CIES Football Observatory, Martinez has scored 21 goals and assisted seven in Serie A this term, only Victor Osimhen has scored more goals with 26.
Chelsea have constantly been linked with a move for the Argentine in previous transfer windows, but this summer could be different. Romelu Lukaku's loan spell at Inter will come to an end this week and his future in London remains in doubt, supplying the west Londoners with an opportunity to offer him as part of the package.
Both Onana and Martinez are in line to start from the off at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium this evening. Whether they can win Inter their first European title since 2010 remains to be seen, but they have an opportunity to show Chelsea exactly why they're worth the investment.
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