Diego Costa Admits He Was Close To Leaving Chelsea
Mar 22, 2017 at 4:22 PM
Diego Costa’s future at Chelsea has been questioned a whole lot of times recently and the striker has now confirmed that he tried to force a move away from Chelsea in the summer window.
There was talk of Chelsea receiving a massive bid from Chinese Super League side Tianjin Quanjian in the January following a falling out with Antonio Conte but Costa has revealed that he tried to leave Stamford Bridge just as the new Chelsea boss had come into the club in the summer.
The 28-year-old has been instrumental in Chelsea’s excellent run, whereby they now look nailed on to the Premier League title, yet it could have all been a different story had Costa had his way in the summer.
He has revealed that he was desperate to return to Atletico Madrid in the summer.
Costa scored an incredible 35 goals in all competitions for Atleti in the 2013/14 season as they won La Liga under Diego Simeone before he joined Chelsea in a £32 million move.
He has only been in England for three years but admitted that he pushed to return to the Vicente Calderon in the summer.
Speaking to a Spanish radio station on a program called El Larguero, he said:
“I did everything possible to return to Atletico. I won’t fight like that to return again.
“When Atletico had to wait for me they didn’t. I had to go to Conte with my tail between my legs.”
Chelsea fans will undoubtedly be over the moon that a move never materialized for Costa as the Spanish international has hit 17 goals in the Premier League this season.
The Blues appear desperate to tie him down to a new contract after interest from China but the fact that Costa says he won’t fight again to return to Atletico can only be encouraging for Chelsea.
Just last month, there were reports that, namely from The Sun, Costa was on the verge of signing a new bumper five-year deal with the striker being paid a basic of £220k-a-week.
With bonuses, the 28-year old’s wage could go from £57 million, over the five years, to a whopping £65 million, no small change for sure.
The newspaper claimed that the striker is set to leapfrog Cesc Fabregas as the club’s top earner.
The new wages would also take him into the top five of the Premier League’s top earners although he would still be some way short of Wayne Rooney’s £300k-a-week.