Chelsea have just splashed the cash to land former Barcelona forward Pedro Rodriquez ahead of Manchester United, but that isn't the only interesting story involving the Blues in Spain today. Spanish paper AS ran a story on Monaco forward Anthony Martial following Monaco's Champions League qualifier against Valencia, and had the following note about Jose Mourinho's side:

Today, Martial is one of the hottest properties in European football. Chelsea reportedly made a 55-million-euro offer for the France under-21 international. Monaco are determined to hold on to Martial this season but if the Ligue 1 side fails to qualify for the Champions League it may force a rethink at the Stade Louis II.

If accurate, wow. Martial is a fantastic prospect, but it's hard to believe that Monaco would have even considered turning down a bid of that size, especially considering that the player's contract has just one year remaining. I'd think it's a bit more likely that AS are either getting some exaggerated information from a club or player looking for a move, or simply taking liberties with the information that they have, something that wouldn't surprise me in the least.

Regardless of whether or not a bid was actually made, however, it's certainly nice to see the Blues linked to Martial. This will be one to watch going forward, even if it seems pretty unlikely to actually happen this August.