Rumour: Chelsea ready to offload Diego Costa, target Antoine Griezmann and Gonzalo Higuain

Costa has scored only three goals in all competitions this season

Chelsea are on the lookout for two strikers during the January transfer window as they consider to offload their misfiring Spain striker Diego Costa, according to Mirror. The West London club have identified their prime targets and they are lining up a swoop for Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann and Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuain.

The 27-year-old arrived at Stamford Bridge from Madrid in the summer of 2014 for a reported fee of £32 million. Costa made a blistering start to his Chelsea career and was key in the club’s Premier League title and Capital One Cup winning campaign last season. But injury concerns saw him play a bit-part role in the Champions League and only 24 starts in the league.

And this season, the Brazil-born-Spanish striker has been struggling for goals and has been involved in numerous controversies, including the incident on Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny during the early stages of the campaign. Costa was served with a three-match ban for his on-field antics and he has been receiving a lot of hate for it by many fans and pundits.

According to reports, the former Atletico man’s future at the Bridge was a subject for discussion after just one season. The club had failed to find an able replacement during the summer and decided to stick with him.

Costa is a popular member among the squad and that was one of the reasons why Chelsea decided not to offload him. However, his in-house popularity is being put to the test by his antics on the field.

Higuain and Griezmann unlikely to join Chelsea in January

The reigning English champions are now ready to part ways with the 27-year-old provided they recruit a world-class striker during the winter in January or the summer transfer window. Chelsea have also identified their targets. Higuain from Napoli is one target, but the Italian club will be adamant on keeping hold of their striker at least till the summer as they are in a strong position in the Serie A – they are currently two points behind league leaders Fiorentina.

The other target is French forward Griezmann, who recently signed a new deal with the Madrid-based club in the summer and it is believed that his release clause is close to £50million. However, a swoop for two of the aforementioned players in January seems unlikely and the West London club may have to wait till summer to acquire their services at the Bridge.

Other strikers on the Chelsea radar include Lyon’s Alexandre Lacazette and Lokomotiv Moscow’s Baye Oumar Niasse. The club are in dire need of bringing new faces into the first-team squad as some of the key players are struggling to emulate their sublime form from last term which had won them the Premier League title.