Chelsea have reportedly informed Tianjin Quanjian that they will only sell striker Diego Costa for £127m, and it appears as though the CSL side are willing to pay it.
The Spanish forward was dropped for a clash with Leicester City by Antonio Conte in January, with speculation surfacing over an offer from China, as well as a bust-up with a member of staff, as per The Guardian.
Since then, Costa has put his head down, got back into the side and continues to lead the line for the Blues as they chase Premier League glory this season.
However, this rumour of a move to China isn’t going away, with SFR Sport reporter Johnny Severin taking to Twitter to reveal his big scoop.
?#Tianjin has been told by @ChelseaFC to come back in summer with a 150M€ offer to sign @diegocosta ! The chinese club intend to do so.
— Johnny Séverin (@jseverin11) February 25, 2017
?INFO @SFR_Sport| @ChelseaFC declined 107 millions € offer from #Tianjin. @diegocosta was attracted by huge offer: 100M€ for 3 seasons
— Johnny Séverin (@jseverin11) February 25, 2017
He claims that Chelsea have already rejected an offer of around £90m for their talismanic striker, but Tianjin are ready to return with another monster bid to set a new world-record transfer fee.
Further, it would be an appealing move for Costa given that it’s claimed he’ll be offered £85m in wages over three years, and so Tianjin are evidently ready to splash out and make the move a reality in order to sign the Premier League’s most prolific forward.
The former Atletico Madrid star has scored 16 Premier League goals in 24 outings, and if this is to be his last season in England, he’ll be determined to end on high and lead his side to the title.
Provided that the numbers are genuine and the interest is real, it will be difficult to see him reject that kind of money this summer. While playing at the top level for Chelsea and in the Champions League will surely be a major draw, it remains to be seen whether or not it’s enough to keep him at Stamford Bridge.