Chelsea star Diego Costa was linked with a move to China recently but has made the final decision on his future.
According to Express, the Spanish forward won’t be leaving Chelsea in this January transfer window. It is understood that Costa wants to move to a new club next season, but will stay at Stamford Bridge until the end of this season.
In the last couple of days, there were a lot of rumours about Costa leaving Chelsea for a massive offer from Chinese club. The Chinese club was ready to pay £80 million for Costa, which could have tempted Chelsea to sell their 28-year-old striker. But the player’s latest decision will have handed the Chinese club a major setback.
Despite all these rumours, Costa was left out of the squad for Saturday’s Leicester match. Even without their star striker, Chelsea won the match 3-0 defeating the home side. But Costa has been one of the best players for Chelsea this season, scoring 14 goals in Premier League.
In 2014, Chelsea bought Costa from Atletico Madrid after meeting the £32 million buy-out clause in his contract. Since moving to Stamford Bridge, he has emerged into one of the best strikers in the Premier League. He has already scored 51 goals from 99 outings for Chelsea across all competitions.
The latest report suggests, Costa has told his friends that he won’t be signing a new deal with Chelsea. It is understood that his current deal will be running out in 2019. He will be offered £200,000 a week on a new deal – a huge increase on his current £150,000-a-week contract. But there has been no confirmation on whether he will have a long future with the Blues.
According to ESPN, Chelsea goalkeeper, Thibaut Courtois has made it clear that they are ready to replace Costa.
“We have the quality to replace Diego,” Courtois insisted. “He is important for us, but if he is not there for one game, we can call on another one.”
Read: Chelsea looking to sign £75 million rated player to replace Diego Costa
The Sun reports that Antonio Conte and Diego Costa will meet again in training today, despite the player already making his mind on his future. The Chinese club will be monitoring his situation at Chelsea and may even try to sign next summer. There are also rumours that Costa wants to move to Spain and re-join Atletico Madrid next season.
Chelsea stays at the top of the table with 52 points from 21 games and 7 points above Tottenham. Costa is expected to be fit and available for their next match against Hull City on Sunday at Stamford Bridge.
