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What's the story?
The Costa saga seems to finally have reached a resolution. According to The Sun, Atletico Madrid and Chelsea have agreed upon a £50m deal for the Spanish international.
However, Atletico will be unable to register Diego Costa until January owing to their transfer ban. The La Liga outfit will pay £41m up front and the rest as add-ons which will see Chelsea turn a profit on the out-of-favour striker who was their top goalscorer last term.
In case you didn't know...
Diego Costa has been training in Brazil and Chelsea had asked him to return to Stamford Bridge. But the 28-year-old lashed out at the club and insisted that he will not be returning to England.
Costa had also added that he wants to move to Atletico and accused Chelsea of holding out for profits and thereby blocking his dream return.
Costa and Conte fell out with each other in the month of January when the former was tipped for a big money switch to China and the relationship has remained sore ever since.
The heart of the matter
Diego Costa has found himself in the doghouse at Stamford Bridge and tension gave way to absolute bedlam when it was revealed that Conte told him to leave Chelsea over a text.
Antonio Conte couldn't be clearer about his intentions as he bought Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid for a hefty sum of £59m.
Things took a turn for the worse when Costa posted a video of his partying in Brazil wearing an Atletico Madrid t-shirt.
AC Milan were rumored to be interested in getting Costa onboard for a 6-month loan deal. But since nothing materialized on that front, Costa chose to stay in Brazil and train alone.
In a string of explosive interviews, Costa accused Chelsea of treating him like a 'criminal' after the club issued an ultimatum demanding his immediate return.
Costa has won 2 Premier League titles in 3 years for Chelsea. He has been Chelsea's leading goal scorer for the duration netting 59 times in 120 appearances.
Costa scored 20 goals in the Premier League in the 2016/17 campaign and was one of the main propelling forces behind Chelsea's title win.
Atletico will want to see Costa go on loan until January and get into the groove of things lest he sticks out like a sore thumb on his big money return to Wanda Metropolitano.
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Author's Take
Diego Costa had handed in 3 transfer requests during his stint at Chelsea. Though he has been successful, Costa has constantly been a figure of controversy and it is understandable that Conte doesn't want such a player in his squad. Atletico will hope that it's the same belligerent goal-getter who returns to Spain and, therefore, will want him to go on a loan deal until January and gain some game time for himself.
