What’s the story?
After last week’s heated words with Antonio Conte, Diego Costa has reportedly decided to leave Chelsea at the end of the season as per reports from The Daily Express. The Spaniard has apparently declined a two-year extension and an increase in wage up to £200,000 a week from the Blues. Reports suggest that Costa wants to see out the rest of the season and look for a new club at the end of Chelsea’s Premier League campaign.
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The Spanish striker missed the Leicester City game on Sunday due to an apparent back injury. Costa later underwent a treatment on his back and was seen training on his own in Cobham. Chelsea went on to beat Leicester 3-0 at the King Power Stadium despite the absence of their leading goalscorer.
Costa is currently on a £150,000-a-week salary and under contract with the Blues until the year 2019. The Spanish striker is currently the highest goal scorer in the Premier League with 14.
This is not the first time that the Chinese clubs have targeted a Blues player as Brazilian midfielder; Oscar was sold to Shanghai SIPG for a mind-boggling sum of £52 million earlier this month. Oscar is currently making £400,000 a week in China.
The heart of the matter
Amid reports of an offer from a Chinese Super League club, Diego Costa was involved in a tussle with the Chelsea medical staff and Antonio Conte last week. The club’s owner Roman Abramovich has already insisted that he has no intentions of selling the 28-year-old striker despite a £80million offer from Jiangsu Suning. The Chinese club is reportedly offering wages upwards of £500,000 a week for the services of the Spain international.
What next?
With Chelsea reluctant on paying its players more than £200,000 a week, Diego Costa could very well leave the London club at the end of the season. Although Chelsea faired well against Claudio Ranieri’s side on Sunday, there is no denying that losing Costa would leave a massive hole in the squad.
Sportskeeda’s take
Considering the massive amount of money being offered by Chinese clubs, Diego Costa might put his own benefits ahead of the club's. With such huge financial gains available, footballers loyalty and ambitions are truly being tested. Given the background he has come from, Costa will not hesitate to pounce on such opportunity and an offer as big as this is usually never ignored by any player.
