Diego Costa says goodbye to Chelsea team-mates as summer exit looms – report

Costa was told by Chelsea boss Antonio Conte he was surplus to requirements at Stamford Bridge and could leave in the summer.

The 28-year-old striker’s preference is to join Atletico Madrid and reports in Spain suggested a deal was imminent but they are yet to reach an agreement with Chelsea, who are reeling from Manchester United agreeing a £75million deal for Everton’s Romelu Lukaku.

Lukaku had been Conte’s top target to replace Costa but he may now be forced to look elsewhere.
According to the Telegraph, Costa has already started preparing for his Chelsea departure by telling team-mates he expects to join Atletico.




The Premier League champions start pre-season on Monday and Costa is unlikely to be at the Cobham training ground.

Chelsea still believe they can sign Lukaku but United are increasingly confident they can wrap up a deal before they depart for America at the weekend.
Speaking before the reports Lukaku was close to joining United, ESPN pundit Shaka Hislop said the Red Devils should not overpay for Romelu Lukaku like with Paul Pogba.

“It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, not at that price,” the former West Ham goalkeeper said.

“Here we are talking about Manchester United overpaying again, I thought they overpaid for Paul Pogba.

“If these reports are to be believed, they’ve overpaid for Lukaku.

“It just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me, not at that price.”

Source:www.express.co.uk