Atletico Madrid have not given up hope of re-signing Diego Costa and continue to make the Chelsea striker their number-one summer target, according to reports in Spain.
Sky Sports cite Marca as claiming that Diego Simeone is desperate for Costa to return to the Vicente Calderon, two years after he left for Chelsea in a £32m deal – fee reported by BBC Sport.
Simeone has built something special at Atletico, but may feel that he needs a top-class striker to complement other attacking options such as Euro 2016 superstar Antoine Griezmann.
As The Independent reports, Costa has expressed his interest in rejoining Atletico after a difficult second season at Chelsea, in which he scored only 12 league goals and experienced disciplinary problems.
But new Blues manager Antonio Conte has insisted that Costa is not leaving [via The Guardian] and will hope to return the Spain forward to the 20-goal form of Chelsea’s 2014-15 title triumph.
Marca adds that Atletico acknowledge a deal with Chelsea could be very difficult to strike, but will continue to explore the possibility of re-signing Costa before turning to other options.
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