Jose Mourinho confirmed after grabbing the Premier League title that there would be departures at Stamford Bridge during the summer, but few would have expected Diego Costa to top the list just a few weeks after the season concluded. The Spaniard came to Chelsea for £32 million and has been a huge hit at West London. He scored 20 league goals in his first season at the club. More importantly, fans have taken to him as one of our own. It is rather surprising to see Costa linked with a return to Atletico Madrid.
Spanish football expert Guillem Balague has great connections with top clubs in Spain and he believes that Costa is unlikely to return largely because his current contract is too big for Madrid to afford. The 26-year-old’s contract runs until 2019 and it is worth around £160,000 per week. Despite having won the la Liga title recently and having reached the Champions League final, Atletico Madrid’s finances are not in a position to afford this salary. Even then, it looks doubtful if Costa would be part of the Chelsea team for the new Premier League season.
Further talk about this situation will come into effect only if Chelsea are willing to sell the player and it is highly unlikely given the success Costa had in his first season. Chelsea have struggled for several years to find an apt replacement for Didier Drogba and this appears to have finally been solved by Costa. Some of Costa’s issues became apparent in the second half of the season, as the striker struggled with injuries. He has played the full 90 minutes only once since the middle of March.
This transfer rumour will undoubtedly come as a shock for Chelsea fans, who would have been expecting to add to the strikeforce and not deplete it. The blues have been linked with a shock move for Radamel Falcao, who had a spectacularly shocking spell at Manchester United. The champions could feature an entirely new strikeforce for the new Premier League season.
