Diego Costa poised to become Chelsea's highest earner after turning down Chinese Super League move

The striker is reportedly ready to sign a new £220,000 a week five-year deal

Costa is poised to become Chelsea's highest-earner (Getty Images)

Chelsea are on the verge of making Diego Costa their highest-paid player after the striker snubbed a lucrative move to the Chinese Super League, reports suggest.

The Spanish international has long been rumoured to be considering a move away from Stamford Bridge, with manager Antonio Conte dropping the player for Chelsea’s 3-0 win over Leicester in January because of well-publicised interest from China.

Reports quickly circulated that the 28-year old had been offered a £30m a year contract Tianjin Quanjin, with Costa’s future in London looking bleak.

But since being restored to the first-team the player has made his peace with Conte and is now poised to sign a new £220,000 a week deal with Chelsea, according to a story in The Sun.

The purported five-year deal would see Costa become Chelsea’s top earner, with performance-related bonuses likely to see the agreement exceeding £65m.

Costa (L) is set to overtake Fabregas as Chelsea's highest earner according to reports (AFP/Getty Images)

He would leapfrog Cesc Fabregas at the very top of Chelsea’s wage book, as well as breaking into the top five earners in the Premier League along with Wayne Rooney, who earns £300k a week at Manchester United.

Costa has proven to be a huge success at the club since signing from Atletico Madrid in 2014. He scored 20 goals in just 26 matches in his debut Premier League campaign, before struggling slightly in his second, hitting 12 goals as Chelsea finished an underwhelming 10^th.

But this season he has returned to form, scoring 15 times in 23 games with Chelsea seemingly on course to canter their way to the Premier League title in Antonio Conte’s first season at the club.