Diego Costa and his agent thought they had it all figured out. The Chelsea striker could leave Stamford Bridge and return to Atletico Madrid, via a loophole that could potentially circumvent the transfer ban. The Costa camp would be happy with this situation, as would Chelsea Manager Antonio Conte, who (as it’s been well documented) cannot coexist with Costa.
Atletico has been hit with a transfer ban that prohibits them from signing new players until the new year, but the proposed solution was to loan Costa out until he could sign permanently.
However, due to a FIFA ruling, it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.
The Daily Mail claim that FIFA mandate a player must be registered first before he can be loaned out.
Thus, a solution that could have been win-win is now lose-lose. The Mail also adds that Atleti are unwilling to pay more than £20 million for Costa, which is well below what Chelsea are asking for him. It’s a very tough situation as for Stamford Bridge as it’s no secret they’re desperate to sell.
It’s made more complicated by the fact that Diego Costa has made it clear that Atleti is where he wants to go. According to the Daily Express, “Serie A sides AC Milan and Juventus are said to be interested in the Blues’ top-scorer for last season.”
However, it’s been said that the two Italian clubs aren’t willing to reach Chelsea’s price and Costa isn’t interested in that destination. Thus, Diego Costa may have to spend six months out of football, and that could seriously jeopardize his chances of making the Spain 2018 World Cup squad.
As Avril Lavigne said “why’d you have to go and make things so complicated” FIFA?
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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