Chelsea transfer news: Antonio Conte laughing all the way to the bank after selling Diego Costa to Atletico Madrid for £35m profit
Sale of striker is the kind of deal that would have made Rodney and Del Boy proud
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AFTER all that, Diego Costa turned out to be worth his weight in gold to Chelsea.
Given his recent approach to fitness, it is no surprise the Spanish striker with a penchant for a party, patatas bravas and a pot belly would command such a hefty fee.
Costa is finally on his way to Atletico Madrid in a deal which could rise to a staggering £67million as long as he can pass the medical, of course.
Atletico could easily recoup the money they have spent by selling tickets for that alone after Costa’s long, lazy summer spent in Brazil.
But he has finally got the move he wants and Chelsea have got the money they want.
Costa’s a winner and manager Antonio Conte is a winner.
The only losers are Atletico Madrid who have paid way over the odds for a fat lad who hasn’t kicked a ball since May -
- they have been sold a proverbial pup that would make Del Boy proud.
It’s as if Costa and Conte cooked it all up between themselves in a scam straight out of Nelson Mandela House.
LATEST CHELSEA NEWS
HOW TRANSFER SAGA UNFOLDED
- JAN 13, 2017: Costa does not travel with Chelsea for Leicester clash after a bust-up with Conte over a £30m-
a-year offer from China. - JAN 14: Conte insists Costa’s omission was down to a back injury.
- JAN 16: Costa trains on his own for second successive day while teammates enjoy a day off.
- JAN 17: Owner of Tianjin Quanjian says new rules have altered the China club’s recruitment plans.
- JAN 22: Costa returns to line-up against Hull City, scoring his 52nd Blues goal.
- FEB 17: Conte says the future of all his players will be discussed at the end of the season.
- APR 28: Costa is spotted meeting super-agent Jorge Mendes and businessmen at a posh restaurant in London’s Knightsbridge.
- MAY 27: Costa plays final game for Chelsea in 2-1 FA Cup final loss to Arsenal, scoring his 59th goal in 120 games.
- MAY 28: Costa rules out a China move in favour of an Atletico return but says he’s happy to stay.
- JUN 8: Costa reveals Conte sent him a 27-word text to say he is no longer needed.
- JUL 14: Striker allowed to miss tour to Asia.
- JUL 18: Seen partying in an Atletico shirt.
- JUL 21: On tour, Conte says he decided to axe Costa in January.
- AUG 4: Chelsea deny Costa is being forced out and his lawyer threatens action.
- AUG 14: Costa says he is treated like a criminal and refuses to return to London from Brazil.
- AUG 17: He suggests he will head to Spain to seal an Atletico deal.
- AUG 18: Costa pleads with Blues to lower their asking price.
- AUG 24: Chelsea draw Atletico in Champions League group stage.
- SEP 9: His family move back to Madrid.
- SEP 21: Blues and Atletico agree deal for a January move.
Brazilian-born Costa, 28, needs to ‘agree’ personal terms yet of course, but any fool knows that was done on a nod and a wink weeks ago.
Just a couple of weeks before his birthday on October 7, Costa will sign a contract for the next four years which will see him right for the rest of his career.
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Chelsea, who bought him for £32m in July 2014, have more than doubled their money on a player they didn’t want any more anyway.
And in the click of an electronic bank transfer have pocketed a fortune to pull off a stunning deal to cap a superb summer in the transfer market.
Just a couple of months ago, Conte had no striker worthy to lead his frontline.
He complained that his squad needed to be bigger to cope with the demands of Premier League and European football.
Ross Barkley and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain rejected the chance to join his champions who had lost the opening game of their title defence and had two players sent off.
Now it’s five wins and a draw from six and a squad humming along nicely while owner Roman Abramovich trousers his latest fortune from flogging a dud.
It happened last January, too, when Brazilian midfielder Oscar, nought for £25m in 2012, became surplus to requirements.
Along came Chinese Super League side Shanghai SIPG with money to burn and £60m later Chelsea are waving him off and still nobody’s even noticed he has gone.
Defender David Luiz signed for Chelsea first time around for £21m.
He was flogged to Paris Saint-Germain for almost double that two years later and then re-signed last year for £32m.
Atletico Madrid are investing a record amount of money on a promise that Costa will stick to the straight and narrow for the next three months until the club’s transfer ban is lifted and he can play for them.
This is the bloke who is currently having the full-blown nightclub in the conservatory of his Surrey mansion dismantled and shipped to Spain.
The player who admitted returning overweight from his summer holiday in 2015 and never quite got up to speed again.
The fiery Latin who tried to take on Conte via text in June in a dispute over close-season diet plans and saw his career in England brought to an abrupt end.
Don’t forget though that while Chelsea may consider themselves the biggest beneficiaries in this whole saga, they will miss his goals and his abrasive personality so effective in winding up opponents.
He scored 22 goals in all-competitions last season, finishing as the top scorer and playing a huge role in winning the title.
Two years before that an even 20 to see Chelsea over the line as champions of England.
As much as the team will miss his input, English football is going to be a much less colourful place without the brooding star.
Not to mention his stand-up row with ex-boss Jose Mourinho on the pitch in a Champions League match in Israel, the ruck with a fitness coach at the Chelsea training ground at New Year, threatening journalists with a fire extinguisher and showing a heartwarming affection for kids wherever he went.
But business is business and there’s only one word Conte is thinking right now after finally trousering nearly seventy million quid: Cushty.