Costa turning into a headache for beleaguered Blues

CHELSEA will finalise plans during the next fortnight over whether to make a January move for a new striker amid growing concerns regarding the form and mental state of Diego Costa.

Chelsea are willing to end Radamel Falcao’s ill-fated loan spell.

But Costa’s continuing struggles in front of goal, coupled with an on-field row with Jose Mourinho during the Champions League victory against Maccabi TelAviv on Tuesday night, have added a new dimension to the decision-making process.

Chelsea had planned to enter the market only if they could offload Falcao and find another backup to Costa, but the club are now considering whether they immediately need to address a lack of goals in an attempt to climb the Premier League table and challenge for the top four.

They are understood to have assessed the merits of West Bromwich Albion’s Saido Berahino and Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy, both English with 18 months left on their contracts. But neither player particularly fits the profile of striker that Mourinho normally likes and the manager may prefer to try to recruit somebody with a longer track record.

Emmanuel Adebayor, who Mourinho took on loan at Real Madrid in 2011, is without a club and would be available on a short-term deal but the 31-year-old has been spending most of his time in Togo without doing much formal training.

The former Manchester United and Arsenal striker Robin van Persie, who is playing for Fenerbahce, has been linked in Turkey with a loan move to Chelsea.

The club could look to make a big-name striker signing next summer.

Atlético Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann, Tottenham Hotspurs’ Harry Kane and Gonzalo Higuaín of Napoli, are all targets but are unlikely to be available in January.

Costa has battled to adapt to life in England and may well have looked to leave if it wasn’t for Mourinho’s backing. The manager supported Costa through a string of controversies, but his patience with the 27-year-old appears to be wearing thin now that the goals have dried up.

Costa has scored four times this season, and seven goals in the past 10 months.

Mourinho mimicked how to tap the ball in from close range when the Spain international failed to get on the end of an Eden Hazard cross against Norwich City before a bigger flashpoint in Israel.

The manager screamed at Costa for again failing to be in the right place to score, but this time the striker gave as good as he got.

Some sources in Haifa, Israel, claimed Costa shouted that he wanted to be taken off as he stormed down the tunnel. But he reappeared for the second half and Mourinho said they had resolved differences. — ©