Diego Costa pens open letter to Chelsea fans after completing Atletico Madrid move
He may not have seen eye-to-eye with Antonio Conte, but Costa clearly has fond memories of his time in the English capital!
SNS | New Delhi | September 27, 2017 3:34 pm
Diego Costa may have been forced out of Chelsea after having a row with manager Antonio Conte, but the Spanish forward has declared in an open letter to Blues fans that he doesn’t hold any grudges and will look back upon his time in the English capital with utmost fondness.
Costa, who signed for Chelsea from Atletico Madrid three years ago, on Tuesday completed a reported €55 million move back to the Rojiblancos. The Spanish side, because of a FIFA embargo on registering new players, will not be able to utilise the 28-year-old till January 1.
After the turn of the year, the Brazil-born Costa will join the club on a loan for the remainder of the season before completing a permanent move for aforementioned fee in the summer.
Costa was an instant hit with Chelsea fans, due to his combative style of play and clinical finishing which enabled the Blues to lift the 2014-15 Premier League title in his debut season.
However, Costa and the rest of his teammates severely underperformed in the next season, which saw then-manager Jose Mourinho get the sack as the Blues finished a lowly 10th.
Antonio Conte arrived last summer on the back of an impressive showing with the Italian national side at Euro 2016 and after a rocky start, transformed the Londoners into a ruthless machine that churned out win after win.
Costa was key to their title-charge but a bid by Chinese Super League side Tianjin Quanjian FC turned his head in January and the Spaniard insisted on being sold, but Conte stood firm and refused to let the striker go in the winter transfer window.
After the season finished, which saw Chelsea clinch their second league title in three years, reports filtered in that Conte had told Costa his career at Chelsea was effectively over. And the Italian tactician’s pursuit of Alvaro Morata (bought for a club-record fee of £60 million) only stoked the fire.
Even as his club teammates reported for pre-season training in July, Costa remained in self-imposed exile in Brazil as his representatives attempted to thrash out a move abroad. But, Atletico’s transfer embargo put Costa’s departure in doubt and the transfer deadline went by without any progress.
Costa, however, was not to be denied the move back to Atletico and in the end it seems Chelsea and the La Liga side were able to come to an agreement over the transfer fee.
Six more teams from La Liga, including Atletico Madrid, will start their campaigns in this season's Copa del Rey on Wednesday, hoping to improve on their performance in the previous year.
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