What’s the story?
With Chinese Super League preying on the sidelines for Premier League superstars, Chelsea will have a tough task on their hands to keep their star striker, Diego Costa at Stamford Bridge. Reports suggest that the Spain international is hell bent on a move away from West London which has now forced Antonio Conte to revive his interest in former Chelsea player Romelu Lukaku and Real Madrid’s Alvaro Morata.
Chinese Super League club, Tianjin Quanjian claim that any possible transfer of Diego Costa will have to wait until the end of the of the season as the club’s owner, Roman Abramovich has confirmed that they have no interest in doing business before their campaign ends.
The owner of Tianjin FC, Shu Yuhul revealed his interest in PSG striker, Edinson Cavani as well and also confirmed that he had a meeting with Costa’s agent, Jorge Mendes.
“I made an appointment with Mendes, and he came to my hometown to visit me,” said Shu. “At that time, we were interested in signing Costa. PSG told us Cavani would only be allowed to leave in June, even though the player himself was willing to join us.
“The same can be said for Costa because Chelsea would only let him leave in June. However, the new season of CSL will almost reach the halfway stage in June. We can’t wait so long.”
In case you didn’t know
Romelu Lukaku was formerly a Chelsea player who joined the London club in 2011, but the Belgian international was sent out on loan the following two season to West Bromwich Albion and Everton eventually making a permanent switch to the latter for a fee of £28 million in July 2014.
At just 23 years of age, Lukaku has established himself as one of the most lethal strikers in the Premier League with 72 goals in just 169 appearances. The big Belgian is currently one of the leading goal scorers in the Premier League this season.
Alvaro Morata, on the other hand, has also been linked with a move to Stamford Bridge in the past and has a good relationship with Antonio Conte who was his manager during his loan stint at Juventus. The 24-year-old Real Madrid striker has not been a regular under Zidane this season and has been struggling for game time.
The heart of the matter
After his bust-up with Antonio Conte, Diego Costa has all but made up his mind to move away from Chelsea. And as his replacement, either of Romelu Lukaku and Alvaro Morata can be a worthy signing for the Italian manager, as both strikers have established themselves on the international stage.
What next?
Although signing Alvaro Morata might be not be guaranteed with Calciomercato claiming that Real Madrid are not interested in any business given their transfer embargo. But the chances of landing Lukaku is quite strong with Everton yet to tie him down to a new contract.
Sportskeeda’s take
Even though losing an established world class striker like Diego Costa might hurt Chelsea FC, players like Lukaku and Morata are well capable of stepping into the Spanish striker’s shoes.
