Chelsea dealt another Diego Costa blow with Atletico Madrid transfer ban ruling out any chance of loan solution- Chelsea are hoping to sell wantaway striker Diego Costa this summer
- But No 1 destination Atletico Madrid banned from registering players this year
- AC Milan were also interested in striker but wage demands ruled out move
- Atletico Madrid reluctant to pay more than £20million to re-sign striker
Chelsea’s attempts to solve their Diego Costa conundrum have been hit by a FIFA ruling which will prevent a transfer to Atletico Madrid followed by an instant move on loan.Atletico are banned from registering any new players until the end of the year as punishment for illegal transfer activity.They are not technically banned from making new signings but, according to FIFA, they have to first register any player before he can be loaned out.This effectively rules out Chelsea’s preferred solution to the mess they are in with Costa.
The Spain international wants to leave London and manager Antonio Conte wants him out, making this clear with a personal text message to the striker to inform him he was not part of plans for the future.
Costa, however, is only interested in a return to Atletico Madrid, the club he left for Chelsea in a £32million transfer in 2014.
He could re-join Atletico and not play until January, as Barcelona did with Arda Turan of Atletico and Aleix Vidal of Sevilla when they were six months from the end of a similar ban.
Such a long period of inactivity would, however, damage Costa’s chances of clinching a place in the Spain squad for next year’s World Cup finals.Besides which, the two clubs are presently millions apart on their valuations.Atletico are reluctant to pay more than £20m for a striker who was Chelsea’s top-scorer last season.
The idea of selling Costa elsewhere is remote because of his steadfast determination to consider only a move back to Madrid.
His wage demands, in excess of £200,000-a-week, rule out most clubs, including AC Milan who did show initial interest.Equally, the prospect of keeping him at Chelsea for six months is risky.Costa, who has two more years on his contract at Stamford Bridge, is a popular figure in the dressing room but does not want to stay and a festering row between Conte and a senior player will sour the atmosphere.
If he has not been sold, the 28-year-old centre-forward will be expected to report for pre-season training with the rest of the first-team squad on July 10.
Chelsea will start a tour to Asia a week later with the first open-doors friendly planned, against Arsenal, in Beijing, on July 22.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4632972/Chelsea-dealt-Diego-Costa-blow-trying-sell-striker.html#ixzz4ksn3j8sd
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