Chelsea striker Diego Costa has reportedly been dropped for the trip to Leicester City after a training ground bust up with a fitness coach.
The Telegraph report claims that Costa has not trained with the squad for the past three days after a row with fitness coach Julio Tous, which manager Antonio Conte is also said to have been involved in.
Costa believes he is suffering from a lower back problem, which could be linked to his history of hamstring injuries. But members of the Blues medical team are not convinced by Costa’s complaints and Conte has subsequently backed his staff.
Chelsea fans immediately took to Twitter to voice their concerns as the Spain international is the top scorer in the Premier League with 14 goals.
Some fans fear the row will lead to Costa’s departure whereas others are begging the club to take control of the situation.
After the argument at Chelsea’s training ground, Antonio Conte shouted ‘go to China’ at Diego Costa pic.twitter.com/5WcuYoxnsn
— Footy Humour (@FootyHumour) January 13, 2017
Diego Costa’s head has been turned by interest from China, where he would become the highest paid player in the world
— Dean Jones (@DeanJonesBR) January 13, 2017
If Diego Costa leaves this transfer window, I will deactivate this account.
I can guarantee this is all fake and he was training. #CFC— ConteTweets (@ConteTweets) January 13, 2017
BREAKING NEWS: West Ham have launched a £3.8m bid for Chelsea’s Diego Costa.
— Pork/Biccie (@harrywhufc19) January 13, 2017
LEAKED: The moment Diego Costa found out he was offered £580,000-a-week in China. https://t.co/61eszeipLL
— Not Match of the Day (@NOT_MOTD) January 13, 2017
Diego Costa has been offered £576,000 per week (!) from a Chinese Super League club [@JimWhite] #CFC pic.twitter.com/umpiMRWXjv
— Bleacher Report UK (@br_uk) January 13, 2017
Small note: Diego Costa’s agent, Jorge Mendes, is currently in China
— Tancredi Palmeri (@tancredipalmeri) January 13, 2017
واتس اب 0577472832 LTz #Diego_Costa #شكرا_عثمان_العتيبي #عبدالله_شرف_الدين #3_Doors_Down pic.twitter.com/73ENNgkiqL
— Paul Donna (@PaulDonna20) January 13, 2017
Alright Donald calm down it’s only Diego Costa https://t.co/x5wx7IC4xn
— Ewan (@DeadlyGriezmann) January 13, 2017
Don’t do it @diegocosta https://t.co/bBIENcVf1i
— GG5 (@GorjusGeorge5) January 13, 2017
*** Breaking ***
Diego Costa arrives for talks in China#Conte#Chelsea pic.twitter.com/u56VyLvgXf
— BYANYMEANSNECESSARY (@1LaneOnly) January 13, 2017
The forward has been unsettled by huge offers from China but it its understood that owner Roman Abramovich will hold the former Atletico Madrid forward to his contract that runs until 2019.
Chinese club Tianjin Quanjian are ready to offer Costa £30 million-a-year, a report from Sky Sports claims, and would offer Chelsea a transfer fee of £80 million.