Rumour: Chelsea set to make £30 million bid for Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa

Diego Costa

Chelsea are set to make a shock bid to lure Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa to West London, reports The Metro.

Despite securing deals for Kurt Zouma, Nemanja Matic and Mohamed Salah, Jose Mourinho is desperate to bring in a striker to bolster his attacking options.

Samuel Eto’o is a shadow of the player he once was, while Fernando Torres cannot climb out of the rut he has been entrenched in for over a year with The Blues front line now lacking a world class striker.

The Portuguese manager had earmarked Wayne Rooney and Radamel Falcao as targets but with Rooney set to stay put and Falcao injured, Costa is now on Mourinho’s radar.

The Brazilian born Costa, who has now switched his allegiance to Spain, has been in devastating form for Ateltico this season, helping them to second place in La Liga, level on points with Barcelona. It is thought the bid will be in the region of £30m.

Chelsea are set to place the huge offer before Friday’s deadline, but Atletico Madrid will be unlikely to allow their prize asset to leave, even if goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is offered as a make weight in the deal.

Only Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo (22) has scored more goals than Costa (19) in La Liga this season.