Chelsea have reportedly given Diego Costa additional time off to complete his summer move away from Stamford Bridge.
Spanish publication MARCA have reported that Chelsea are set to accelerate the process of completing the departure of Diego Costa from Stamford Bridge. The Blues’ squad is set to return to training for the new season at their Cobham training base today. But Costa has been given additional time to sort his future out.
Costa joined Chelsea from Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2014, having established himself as one of the most prolific strikers in the world. His time at Stamford Bridge, though, has been mired in controversies, with the player also having the tendency to land himself in a soup due to his behaviour.
Nevertheless, Costa has still been fundamental to both Chelsea’s Premier League triumphs since he joined the club. The 28-year-old scored 20 goals in the 2016/17 season as the Blues clinched yet another league title, with the player’s performances being key to their results in the first half of the campaign.
Diego Simeone on Diego Costa: “If he comes in January to Atletico Madrid…Well we can’t say anything about that yet.” pic.twitter.com/15PMAMhjcU
— Squawka News (@SquawkaNews) August 1, 2017
However, his position at the West London club was mired in heavy uncertainty following a bust-up with Antonio Conte earlier in the year. His fate was sealed at the end of season when the player made a public announcement to confirm that the Chelsea boss had informed his that he had no future at the club.
The Spain striker has a lot of interest in him, with Serie A clubs, as well as those in the Chinese Super League expressing an interest in signing him. Costa, though, is adamant that he will only leave Chelsea to make a return to Atletico Madrid.
However, a move back to the Spanish capital would mean that the player will have to miss five months of action due to Los Rojiblancos’ ban on registering new players this summer. But, Chelsea want Atletico to move quickly for Costa, otherwise they will have no choice but to sell him to some other club.
Chelsea have recently secured the services of Alvaro Morata – the 28-year-old’s replacement – and are, thus, eager to get the player off their wage bill as soon as possible. Costa, too, understands that while he longs for the move back to Atletico, he can ill afford the club not making any movement to sign him.
It now remains to be seen if Atletico indeed lodge a formal bid to acquire the Spain striker, or if he ends up moving elsewhere, with no dearth of interest in his services.
