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Chelsea eyeing striker Martinez as Rooney hopes fade

Chelsea is reportedly set to launch a 25 million-pound bid for Portuguese side Porto striker Jackson Martinez with Manchester United insisting that Wayne Rooney will stay on at Old Trafford.

London: Chelsea is reportedly set to launch a 25 million-pound bid for Portuguese side Porto striker Jackson Martinez with Manchester United insisting that Wayne Rooney will stay on at Old Trafford.
According to Metro.co.uk, Chelsea have spent much of the summer transfer window tracking Rooney and have already had bids of 25 million pounds and 30 million pounds rejected for his services. The report further said that Martinez, who scored an impressive 34 goals in 43 matches last season, is the new target for Chelsea, adding that he has previously been eyed by Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona, along with Tottenham Hotspur. Martinez has a 35 million-pound release clause in his contract, but Chelsea reportedly believe that they can tempt Porto into selling him for 25 million pounds. The report further said that with no competitive matches in Europe, it is the intrigue over the futures of Rooney, Gareth Bale, Luis Suarez and Cesc Fabregas largely filling the void during the off-season. European clubs could be on the verge of doing hundreds of millions of dollars in transfer business before the September 2 cutoff, defying both the economic climate on the continent and UEFA `s relatively new Financial Fair Play rules, the report added. ANI