Chelsea and Atletico Madrid appear to be no nearer reaching a compromise for the transfer of Diego Costa, who remains in limbo with his future unclear.
• Costa told he has no part in Conte’s plans
• Striker determined to return to Atletico
• Chelsea have disciplined their stay-away player
Having previously been told earlier this summer that he no longer features in Antonio Conte’s plans at Stamford Bridge, Costa has been seeking a return to Atletico for several weeks. But as keen as his former club are to take him back to the Spanish capital, their hopes have been complicated due to a Fifa-imposed transfer ban forbidding them to registering any new players until January.
This has left the 28-year-old in limbo, and he is currently in Brazil whilst he awaits further developments. This has increased Chelsea’s displeasure in him, and the Premier League champions have demanded he return to the club for pre-season training so he can maintain his fitness, and they have hit him with a two-week fine which is understood to equate to a figure in the region of £300,000.
Costa is furious with the way he has been treated by the Blues, who benefited from his 20 goals as they won the title last season. An interview given to the Daily Mail at the weekend suggested he was certainly in no rush to return to London, and he claimed he would even spend a year in Brazil even if this meant his employers refused to pay his salary or continued to issue him with fines.
But in regards to his desired return to Atletico, it would appear as though this has hit something of an impasse. Due to their transfer ban Los Rojiblancos are reluctant to meet Chelsea’s valuation of £59million for a player they took from the Vicente Calderon for £32million three years ago. Instead, Diego Simone’s side have offered £34million to sign the Spain international.
