What’s the story?
The owner of Tianjin Quanjian, one of the Chinese Super League clubs linked to Diego Costa, has admitted that talks have been held with the Chelsea striker’s agent Jorge Mendes regarding the player's availability. The owner of the recently promoted club, Mr Shu Yuhui has confirmed that he is willing to splash the cash to grab the Chelsea star who is also the current top scorer in the Premier League.
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"I made an appointment with Mendes and he came to my hometown to visit me. At that time, we were interested in signing Costa," said Yuhui.
In case you didn’t know...
Costa was dropped after an alleged bust-up with Chelsea manager Antonio Conte. The Spaniard was left out of the squad for the trip to Leicester and it seems that the player is now in no mood to stick around at Chelsea. In a shocking chain of events, Conte and Costa, who were apparently on very good terms, do not see eye to eye anymore and the player has demanded a move away from the club.
Costa’s status at Chelsea currently remains a mystery, however, the player was seen training alone yesterday which suggests that he might just start the match against Hull City this coming weekend.
However, the Italian manager has played down all rumours of a conflict and has instead blamed a back injury for Costa’s absence.
The heart of the matter
The 28-year-old, who has been a stellar performer for Chelsea this season, has a lot of admirers in the Chinese Super League. Tianjin Quanjian has especially taken a keen interest in his situation and are willing to offer over the top wages to the player. According to reports, the club has put in a tempting £570,000 per week offer for the Spaniard and it seems that Costa has taken the bait.
Also read: Five strikers Chelsea could replace Diego Costa with
What’s next?
The newly promoted club are one of the strongest teams in the Chinese Super League and are currently managed by Italian, Fabio Cannavaro. The club recently signed Axel Witsel and now plan on signing another top foreign player.
Shu also confirmed that the club is looking at some other forwards including Benzema, Falcao, Cavani and Jimenez apart from Costa. Shu revealed that the new Chinese Super League rules have been a major setback to their ambitions but they are still in the market looking for a top forward.
Sportskeeda’s Take
This new revelation by Shu has confirmed that Costa’s situation is far more serious than just a minor back injury. The Blues are actively trying to keep the player until June but may have to give up if the Spaniard decides to push for a transfer immediately.
The Chinese Super League clubs will surely want to make the most out of Costa’s current unsettled status at Chelsea. The next few days will be extremely important to see which way this entire saga turns.
