Chelsea seems to have hit by a major injury blow as Diego Costa almost certain to miss the opening Premier League fixture of the season against West Ham.
However, the Blues have Michy Batshuayi as cover after signing the Belgian striker from Marseille earlier this summer, but Antonio Conte continues to look for more options in attack after last season’s woeful form.
Costa’s future has faced some serious doubt amid rumours linking him with a potential return to Atletico Madrid, but the new Italian manager has been keen to keep him on board at Stamford Bridge.
According to a report from London Evening Standard, the Spain international is now struggling to make it back in time for the opening match against the Hammers, in what will no doubt be a major blow for Conte’s plans.
Costa didn’t even feature in Chelsea’s recent friendly win over Liverpool and a defeat to Real Madrid as he may miss out on pre-season altogether after this minor back problem picked up in training.
Meanwhile, Antonio Conte is unable to guarantee if Diego Costa will remain at Chelsea next season, amid reports of interest from his former club Atletico Madrid.
Conte said: “I speak for today and today Costa is Chelsea’s player. Tomorrow if you ask me if Costa will remain with us, I don’t know.
“I can say that today Costa is a Chelsea player. He didn’t play in these games because of injury and if he solves the injury and I see in training he’s in good shape it can be possible to see him in the next game against AC Milan [on Wednesday]. But I can tell you only this.”
Those words from the new Chelsea boss clearly suggest a possible exit for Costa. Managers who want to keep players never even admit the possibility that they could leave, and given the suspiciously vague nature of Costa’s back injury it looks like he may just have been wrapped up in cotton wool ahead of a potential move.
Yet the only serious suitor has seemingly pulled out of the running: Costa’s former club Atletico Madrid had seemed keen on bringing back the 27-year-old, but after months of frustration appeared to look elsewhere on Saturday as they instead signed Sevilla’s Kevin Gameiro.