There was a lot of news regarding Chelsea striker Diego Costa last week. The mercurial, polarizing Premier League leading scorer received a ridiculously lucrative offer from China, and that had caused a row with Manager Antonio Conte and the coaching staff.
Costa was then forced to train alone, until the situation resolved itself. Costa resumed working out with the rest of his teammates on Tuesday and today scored the game winning goal in home fixture against Hull City.
“He’s available for the game against Hull City,” Conte said ahead of the match.
“He started training on Tuesday with the rest of the team, and he trained very well. He’s in good fitness. He has no pain in his back.”
Diego Costa started, and opened the scoring in extra time during the first half. For his post goal celebration dance, he then went on to mock his detractors, especially those in the media with his hand gestures doing “talk talk” motion.
https://twitter.com/ChelseaGIFs/status/823221961484603392
https://twitter.com/SimpIyEden/status/823219692630319104
Chelsea went on to win 2-0.
Asked on Friday if Costa has been distracted by interest from China, Conte added: “I think the player wants to stay at Chelsea. He’s very happy to play with us. This idea is far [away] in his mind. He’s happy. He’s happy to stay here and play with us. This is the most important thing.”
As for that big money move to China, it appears that the rules and protocols of the Chinese Super League will prohibit it.
Tianjin Quanjian pursued and felt very confident in landing Chelsea’s Diego Costa, Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema, Monaco’s Radamel Falcao, and PSG’s Edinson Cavani.
However the BBC articulates why that can’t happen:
But Chinese clubs will only be able to field three foreign players per game when the new season starts.
“This situation has brought a change to our signing plans,” said Shu.
“The online reports about Costa – it’s true we’d like him, and we made an offer for Cavani and were deep in negotiations,” said Shu.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, Bold and the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication, appears regularly as a guest on CGTN America, WGN CLTV News and KOZN 1620 The Zone.
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