Any Chinese Super League club interested in Chelsea striker Diego Costa will have fork out a whopping £150m to snap him up this summer, as per reports.
The Spaniard is likely to command a significant fee regardless of any outside factors, but due to a 100 percent tax on foreign deals imposed in the Far East, it’s just got a lot more expensive to take him to China.
According to The Sun, he has been heavily linked with a £76m move to Tianjin Quanjian this summer, but with this tax levied on the signing of all foreign players, it remains to be seen whether or not that is still an option open to the Premier League winner.
Costa and Chelsea will undoubtedly be focusing on the FA Cup final this weekend which could see them complete the domestic double in Antonio Conte’s first season in charge at Stamford Bridge, but it would surely be wrong to suggest that they aren’t already assessing the summer transfer market.
Given his ongoing importance to the team, with 20 goals in 35 Premier League games last season, in an ideal world the Blues would just get the 28-year-old to stay in west London.
Speculation of a move to China refuses to go away though after initially making the headlines in January, although with this new tax coming into effect on June 19, it’s questionable as to whether it’s still a possibility for CSL clubs to afford him.
It’s added that Chelsea will only sell the former Atletico Madrid ace for more than £60m, or they could be forced to agree to his £300,000-a-week wage demands to keep him at the club.
All in all, it’s a complication that Chelsea perhaps didn’t want to have. However, based on this report, it’s something that they may well have to prepare for and they’ll have to change their strategy this summer accordingly.