Chelsea striker Diego Costa will reportedly hold showdown talks with Antonio Conte, but despite the possibility of staying, talk is still rife of an exit and potential replacements.
Despite the fact that the Spaniard played a fundamental role in helping Chelsea win the Premier League title last season, controversy was sparked earlier this summer when reports claimed Conte had sent him a text informing him that he was no longer part of his plans at Stamford Bridge.
According to The Sun, all parties could be about to perform a U-turn on the situation, as it’s claimed that Costa will sit down for showdown talks with the Chelsea boss and he could yet remain with the club.
It’s suggested that a truce could be called although it remains to be seen whether or not Costa would be willing to sign a new deal having rejected an offer at the end of last season. In contrast, although a return to Atletico Madrid has been touted, he wouldn’t be able to play until January, which could harm his chances of making the World Cup squad next summer.
Meanwhile, The Daily Mail have taken an entirely different stance on the matter, insisting that despite missing out on Romelu Lukaku, Chelsea will still press ahead with plans to sell Costa but will demand more than £60m.
Atletico’s current bid falls way short of that, but the report notes that Chelsea will not be bullied into a cut-price for their talismanic forward as the money raised will undoubtedly fund a big-money move for a replacement.
That replacement could now be Andrea Belotti, as with Lukaku seemingly heading for Old Trafford, The Mirror suggest that Conte could turn his attention back to the Torino striker.
As with every striker involved in this discussion though, he won’t come cheap. It’s added in the report that it will take a bid of around £90m to prise the Italian international away from Turin this summer, and that will surely be far too much for a player that has only really proven his quality at a high level over one season.