Chelsea striker Diego Costa will still be sold this summer despite Antonio Conte missing out on Romelu Lukaku- Lukaku choosing Manchester United will not stop Chelsea selling Diego Costa
- The Belgian is poised to join Manchester United for £75m despite Blues links
- There will be no healing of the rift between Costa and manager Antonio Conte
By Matt Barlow for MailOnline
PUBLISHED: 12:00 BST, 7 July 2017 | UPDATED: 14:21 BST, 7 July 2017
Romelu Lukaku’s decision to choose Manchester United will not stop Chelsea selling Diego Costa.There appears to be no way of healing the rift between Costa and manager Antonio Conte and the striker wants to leave for Atletico Madrid, although Chelsea’s asking price will start at more than £60million.The Premier League champions are not prepared to be bullied into a cut-price deal, though Costa has made it clear he is not interested in a transfer to anywhere other than his former club.
Atletico are preparing a bid but they do not want to pay more than £22m for the 28-year-old striker with only two years on his contract.The Spanish club believe their negotiating stance was strengthened by Conte’s infamous text to Costa. Chelsea manager Conte sent a message at the end of last season to inform his top-scorer he was not part of his plans for the future.
This effectively rules out the option he might stay at Stamford Bridge as long as Conte is in charge. Even the loss of Lukaku, the manager’s number one target as a replacement centre-forward, will not change this outlook.
Costa will only consider a return Atletico, the club he left when he moved to London for £32m in 2014.
Atletico are serving a FIFA transfer ban which prevents them from registering any new players before the end of the year. Even if the Spanish club were to clinch a deal Costa could not play for them until January.
The notion of signing him and loaning him for six months is ruled out by FIFA regulations which state a player must be registered before he can go on loan.
It means the most probable outcome is a move to the Spanish capital where he will simply train until he has clearance to play.
Another solution is a contrived short-term transfer from Chelsea to another club and then to Atletico, his destination of choice, in January.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4674618/Chelsea-sell-Diego-Costa-despite-missing-Lukaku.html#ixzz4m9dcJSRa
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