Chelsea face taking a £20mil hit on asking price for Costa
LONDON: Chelsea face taking a £20mil (RM110mil) hit on their asking price for wantaway striker Diego Costa.
Antonio Conte’s men value the Spaniard at £50mil (RM276mil) but his old club Atletico Madrid are only willing to cough up £30mil (RM166mil). Maverick Costa still has a house in Madrid and is due to fly out there next week as he tries to force through a return.
The Spain international, 28, is currently AWOL at his family home in Brazil.
He said: “My destination is already set. I must return to Atletico Madrid next season. It turns out there is the impasse that Chelsea does not want to release me.
“But I believe this situation will be resolved on my return to Spain.”
Costa is also threatening to involve lawyers after being slapped with fines by the Blues for failing to turn up for work.
Chelsea can fine their fiery rebel £300,000 (RM1.6mil) every fortnight for each unauthorised absence. Atletico are ready to make Chelsea sweat as the transfer window shuts in 13 days’ time.
Diego Simeone’s side know Costa’s value is plummeting with each new development in the whole sorry saga.
The striker, who left Atletico in a £32mil (RM177mil) move in July 2014, flipped after a heated text exchange with boss Conte in June when he was told he had no future at the club.
Costa has his heart set on a return to Atletico but the club are under a transfer embargo and cannot sign anyone until New Year’s Day.
One solution could be for Costa to go on loan to fellow Spaniards Deportivo Coruna until January.
Another possible way out is for him to join Atletico now and spend the next few months training on his own.
Meanwhile, Costa has again blasted Chelsea for pricing him out of a dream return to Atletico.
In another explosive interview in Brazil, the exiled striker said the Blues are not treating him fairly as they hold out for more money.
He told ESPN Brazil’s Joao CasteloBranco: “I’ve demonstrated I care for Atletico and have interest in playing for them.
“But if Atletico and Chelsea don’t come to an agreement and Atletico don’t make a big effort, I can’t keep on wanting to play for a club that isn’t going to make a bigger effort to try and sign me.
“I know that this (big effort) will happen, but if it’s to pay the amount that Chelsea want it won’t be possible.
“What I know is that this offer Chelsea will get is bigger than what they paid, so I’ve given them something back in all senses (sporting and financial).”
When asked whether he knew how much Chelsea want for him, Costa replied: “I don’t know, but my agent said that Chelsea want something that Atletico can’t get near.
“When we heard that Conte didn’t want me anymore, my agent went to find out if there was interest from Atletico for me coming back. Of course for the warmth and respect that I earned there, they showed interest.
“But they wouldn’t pay a fortune. Atletico is a team growing every year, a big team, but they can’t pay an extraordinary amount.”
After Costa revealed the text message that led to a breakdown in his relationship with Conte, the pair have barely been on speaking terms.
Costa never returned to training after being told he would have to train away from the first team, with the reserves.
The 28-year-old has been training alone in his hometown of Lagarto, Brazil, racking up hefty fines.
Costa claims he has not been told if he may get a chance to return and play for the Blues.
“I’ll be honest, I have my agent and none of that has reached me,” he added.
“People at the club called me before (earlier in the summer) to give me extra holidays to not have contact with the manager.
“I was always meant to turn up with the group, but they were already saying that I’m going to have to come back and train with the reserves.
“I said that this was a lack of respect. We won the league and I haven’t done anything so serious to deserve being treated in that way.
“It won’t be the same as before (between him and Conte), and we don’t know if the fight for the position will be fair.
“Because of me having exposed the (text) message I understand that he’ll be annoyed, so if I go back I have to see if things would be clean, just and correct.
“That’s how I like things. If I go back now I don’t think it will be a fair situation. It won’t be an honest fight for a position (in the team).” — The Sun, London