Chelsea striker Diego Costa is close than ever to returning to his former club, according to Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo.
Costa, who had to endure a difficult campaign at Stamford Bridge last season, has been highly linked with a move back to La Liga after the Stamford Bridge hierarchy spent £33million on Belgian striker Michy Batshuayi earlier this month.
The 27-year-old Brazil-born Spanish striker spent two heavily successful seasons at Atletico before his £32m move to the Premier League; netting 56 goals in 96 appearances for the Spanish side.
During his time at the Vicente Calderon Stadium Costa won the La Liga title, the Copa del Rey, two UEFA Super Cup finals and finished as an unfortunate runner-up to city rivals Real Madrid in the Champions League.
As speculation grows over his future at Chelsea under new manager Antonio Conte, Atletico president Enrique Cerezo has now reignited the speculation by suggesting a return for Costa is in the pipeline.
“We like him a lot, I’ll admit,” Cerezo told The Mirror. “We are talking to the player and working on him returning to Madrid.
“It’s close, but I can’t say any thing more.”
However, according to another report, Enrique Cerezo has denied saying quotes attributed to him that his club is “close” to signing Diego Costa from Chelsea.
The Atletico president later denied saying a deal was close, telling Spain’s AS: “I do not speak of players at other clubs.”
Costa’s production in English Premier League fell off during the 2015-16 campaign and it remains unclear how the striker might fit into new manager Antonio Conte’s plans.
Atleti have also been linked to several Serie A strikers – AC Milan’s Carlos Bacca, Inter Milan’s Mauro Icardi and Napoli’s Gonzalo Higuain – but according to Gazzamercato, the president played down those links.
“Bacca is a very important player, but we’re not going to buy him. He’s not in our plans,” Cerezo reportedly said.
“Neither will we sign any other striker from the Italian league. Not Higuain, nor any of the other names which are circulating.”