Three days ago, Chelsea forward Diego Costa spoke openly about where his next destination could be, and he focused most of that discourse on Atletico Madrid. His comments made it very clear that he really wants to return to his former club, in spite of the transfer ban remaining in effect, and making the situation all the more complicated.
Atletico cannot officially register new players until January, so what is Costa to do?
Well, according to Marca, he will sit out for six months, while maintaining a training program arranged by Atletico.
Costa no contaba con Conte https://t.co/DyFsr8LBXJ pic.twitter.com/HtcgWncIUj
— MARCA (@marca) June 14, 2017
Thus, there is a plan to maintain his fitness during the layoff, putting concerns on the club side at ease, but what about for country? La Furia Roja boss Julen Lopetegui insists Costa’s place at the 2018 World Cup will not be in jeopardy due to this situation. Sounds like it’s all falling into place, right?
Well, not so fast.
What about his current team, Chelsea?
Manager Antonio Conte made it known to Costa that he is not part of his plans, and the 28-year-old leaked it to the media. Now an already awkward situation gets even worse, and you can see just how messy it is when you view this video of Conte reaching a page in the commemorative magazine that features Diego Costa.
Chelsea’s SB Nation blog advises that Stamford Bridge take the low ball offer of £20 million from Atleti and we agree with their reasoning below:
For Chelsea, perhaps the smartest course of action at this point would be to take the deal and get the drama over with. It’s hardly ideal, the £20m, but the damage potentially caused by all this dragging on the rest of the summer could be immeasurably greater.
The publicizing of the Conte text message put the Blues in a tough spot, now everyone knows Chelsea are looking to jettison him, and they won’t exactly be driving a hard bargain.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes to WGN CLTV and KOZN.
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