Diego Costa accuses Chelsea of charging ‘extraordinary amount’ to thwart his Atletico Madrid move

Chelsea striker Diego Costa has accused the club of pricing him out of a move back to Atletico Madrid in his continuing stand-off with manager Antonio Conte. The Spanish international is determined to rejoin former side Atletico despite the La Liga club being subject to a transfer ban preventing them from registering players until January.

Costa has not played for Chelsea since the FA Cup final in May, following which he says Conte sent him a text telling him he was not in his plans for the new season. Chelsea say that was made clear to him as early as January. He has accused the Premier League club of treating him like a “criminal” and has said he was willing to see out the remaining two years of his deal unpaid in Brazil.

“My destination is already set,” Costa was quoted as saying by Brazilian newspaper O Globo. “I must return to Atletico Madrid next season.”

Atletico are banned from signing players in this window as punishment for signing minors. Costa has remained in Brazil and been fined by Chelsea for not returning to pre-season training. In a later interview with ESPN Brasil, he accused the club of demanding too high a fee …read more