Atletico Madrid will reportedly finalise a move to re-sign former striker Diego Costa from Chelsea this week. The striker has been in a self-imposed exile in his native Brazil after knowing that he does not feature in Antonio Conte’s plans for the ongoing campaign.
According to Marca, Costa’s future could be resolved by the end of the week with Atleti prepared to cough up a club-record sum for his services. The Spanish outfit are due to pay a fee of around £54m for their former marksman with a view to registering him in their squad in the New Year.
Atleti are currently serving a FIFA-imposed transfer ban which only concludes in January, and they would have been in a similar position, had they agreed on a fee for Costa this summer. The 28-year-old is said to have received offers from the likes of Besiktas and AC Milan during the transfer window, but he has been reluctant to play for any other club than Atleti.
Costa’s stance has also had an effect on his international career with Spain with manager Julen Lopetegui urging the striker to get back to regular first-team football or risk missing out on next year’s World Cup.
The Spaniard has proved a huge success during his three-year spell at Stamford Bridge, scoring 58 goals across all competitions. He was recently added to the Blues’ 25-man Premier League squad, but his chances of featuring look bleak as he does not seem interested in sorting out his differences with the manager.
Conte has also highlighted that Costa is in the ‘past’ with his compatriot Alvaro Morata having made the centre-forward position his own – following his move from Real Madrid earlier in the summer. Morata has bagged three goals and two assists in four league outings this term, and he already looks an improvement on Costa.
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