What's the story?
Chelsea have been playing exceptionally well at the moment with Diego Costa being one of the major architects of the Blues' rise in the Premier League this campaign. The Brazil-born striker has had a couple of issues with the Chelsea management in recent months which has started a lot of rumours regarding his exit.
Atletico Madrid have been reported as a potential destination for Costa but the major interest has been seen from China. The Far East clubs have been trying to lure him since long with Daily Star now reporting that Chelsea have slapped a £127 million price tag on their striker and that a Chinese club is ready to pay that amount in the summer.
In case you didn't know...
Diego Costa had a row with manager Antonio Conte in December which sparked rumours regarding hi exit from the club. The duo made up soon after and are now on course to win the Premier League title with Chelsea, currently having an 11 point lead at the top of the table.
After a £32 million move from Atletico in 2014, Costa won the league title in his first season and has 16 goals to his name in the 2016/17 campaign.
The heart of the matter
Daily Star have reported through French journalist Johnny Severin that Costa is trying to move away from Stamford Bridge after the end of the season. Star reports Chinese giants Quanjian Tianjin had made a bid of £90 million last month which Chelsea rejected against the player's will.
The Blues have reportedly told Tianjin to come back in the summer with a bid of £127 million for the star striker. Severin also said in his report that Tianjin are ready to pay the extravagant amount for Diego Costa to make him their marquee player.
What's next?
The riches of the Far East have seemed to attract Diego Costa who looks to be lured by the salary on offer at China. Tianjin have offered £85 million in salary over three seasons for the striker which Chelsea are expected to accept come the end of the season.
Sportskeeda's take
If this deal goes through, Tianjin will smash the world record and make Diego Costa world's most expensive player, beating Paul Pogba's transfer of £89 million to Manchester United. This transfer will return Chelsea a profit of close to £100 million on Costa which will be yet another example of brilliant business done by the Chelsea hierarchy.
