Chelsea needs to hire a new striker before next season despite having to reduce their overcrowded roster this summer.

Mauricio Pochettino is widely anticipated to permanently replace Graham Potter as Chelsea's manager at Stamford Bridge at the start of the next season.

The Argentine's squad is too large, therefore he has to cut some players and bring in others who will be crucial to the team's success.

Chelsea's lack of a reliable scoring threat is the team's glaring weakness. Even with Romelu Lukaku on loan at Inter Milan, Kai Havertz has failed to deliver the kind of performances expected of a Premier League striker.

And US billionaire Todd Boehly's Blues are poised to go for at least one new assassin before the summer transfer window. Napoli striker Victor Osimhen has been mentioned, but the Serie A winners want more than £100 million to part with their prolific scorer. As a result, Chelsea has reportedly switched its focus to Inter Milan's Lautaro Martinez.

ALSO READ: Transfer news: Lavia to Arsenal or Chelsea latest, Bayern’s Haaland revelation, and more.

Martinez, who is only 25 years old, has had a fantastic season. The 25-year-old forward's value has risen again after he helped lead Argentina to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar last winter and scored 25 goals across all competitions.

The Nerazzurri's decision on whether or not to release their great player is still up in the air. Fans probably didn't think the Serie A powerhouses would let Lukaku leave after he helped them win the title in 2020-21, but they did, and they sold him to Chelsea, so there's still hope for the clubs' excellent connection to continue this summer.

The names of Atalanta's Rasmus Hojlund and Juventus' Dusan Vlahovic have been said to be on the Blues' shortlist of strikers.