Diego Costa flies to Madrid with his entourage to complete £57.2m transfer from Chelsea

Diego Costa says he harbours no ill feeling towards Chelsea or their coach Antonio Conte as he flies to Madrid to complete a £57.2m move to Atletico.

Costa boarded a flight from Aracajú in Brazil with his brother, Jair, and a few close friends on Thursday and is expected to arrive in the Spanish capital on Friday to finalise the deal.

Chelsea confirmed on Thursday that they had agreed a fee with Atletico and that the switch is now only dependent on the striker passing a medical and agreeing personal terms.

It has put an end to a lengthy saga this summer which started in June when Costa claimed that Conte had said he was no longer wanted via text – the Chelsea coach insisted the player knew he would be sold back in January.

The Spain international refused to return to training despite being fined by the Blues and has been AWOL in Brazil for the past two months. His lawyer has threatened to take legal action and Costa even accused Chelsea of treating him “like a criminal”.

But when asked if he was upset over the way he’s been treated by Conte, Costa said: “There’s nothing of the sort there, I’m not upset with anybody, I have no bitterness towards anyone. Everything is cool.”

The 28-year-old was worshipped by the majority of Chelsea supporters having scored 52 league goals in three seasons, which helped them win the title in 2015 and last season.

Five of Diego Costa's best Chelsea goals Credit: BT Sport

Costa’s decision to go on strike in order to force through a move back to Atletico, who sold him to Chelsea for £32m in 2014, has threatened to taint his legacy among the Chelsea following. But he insisted: “Everybody knows how much I love the [Chelsea] fans.”

Atletico have effectively agreed to initially take the striker on loan, which means they will pay his current £150,000-a-week salary at Chelsea even though they cannot register him until the new year.

It is understood Atletico will give Chelsea an initial £48.4m, with another £8.8m in add-ons.

As Standard Sport revealed on Thursday, the transfer is set to be completed before Chelsea take on Atletico at their new Wanda Metropolitano Stadium on Wednesday. He will first attend their match against Sevilla on Saturday, where he will get a very warm reception.

Costa, who described his return to Atletico as “beautiful”, scored 35 goals for them in 2013-14 to help them win La Liga and reach the Champions League Final.

Atletico fitness coach Oscar Ortega is believed to have drawn up a special training programme in order to get him fit for the start of January. Costa has only been able to do basic sessions on his own while in Brazil and is said to be a few months away from being ready to play competitive football again.

Atletico will make Costa do double and possible even treble training sessions, as well as involve him in practice games behind closed doors.

His imminent return has been greeted warmly by the Atletico players, including former Chelsea left-back Filipe Luís.

He said: “I am proud of the effort to bring one of the three best strikers in the world. He comes here to fight, work and make us all better. I am very happy that my friend is coming back.”