Chelsea striker Diego Costa has reportedly been diagnosed with a groin issue by the Spain medical staff but will remain with the national team.
The 28-year-old has nine goals in 11 Premier League games so far this season, and given his importance to Antonio Conte, Chelsea will undoubtedly be monitoring his progress this week closely.
According to El Confidencial, he arrived at the Spanish get-together with a problem in his groin, but the report goes on to state that the medical team don’t believe that it will rule him out of clashes with Macedonia and England over the international break.
Given that they identified the issue on his arrival, it’s assumed that Chelsea are aware of the problem that the former Atletico Madrid man has but that will do little to ease their fears that it could be aggravated while on international duty.
Julen Lopetegui could have sent him back to London but decided he should stay, according to the report, and so it would appear that the knock isn’t that serious and that Costa will be able to manage it over the course of the next fortnight.
Following a concerning dip in form, Chelsea have rattled off five consecutive wins in the Premier League without conceding a single goal to push themselves back into contention at the top of the table.
Costa’s prolific form in front of goal has been crucial to that run, and so they will be desperate to see him return to Stamford Bridge next week without any further damage done to the knock that he’s carrying.