Chelsea manager Antonio Conte reveals he told Diego Costa he had no future at the club six months ago
Costa told journalists that he only found out he was not wanted by Chelsea when he received a text message last month, but Conte has now denied that claim
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Your support makes all the difference.Antonio Conte has revealed that Diego Costa was told in January that he would be sold by Chelsea this summer, contradicting the forward’s claims that he was only told he had no future at the club after helping them to win the Premier League title.
Last month, the Spanish newspaper AS claimed to have seen the message which informed Costa that he would play no part at the Premier League champions next season.
According to AS, the full message from Conte read: “Hi Diego, I hope you are well. Thanks for the seasono [sic] we spent together. Good luck for the next year but you are not in my plan”.
“I'm a Chelsea player, but they do not want me there,” Costa then said to journalists while away on international duty with Spain. “Antonio Conte has told me by message that I do not follow at Chelsea and that's it. Conte said he did not count on me for next season.”
However Conte has now ended his silence on the topic and has claimed that Costa and his agent were told six months ago that he would be moved on this summer.
“I don’t like to talk about players who are not here. But there is one thing I can tell you,” he said ahead of the start of the new season. “In January, the Costa sit was very clear, for the club for him and his agent. For me the situation is closed.”
Chelsea are currently in the process of finalising a deal for Costa’s replacement, Alvaro Morata.
The Real Madrid striker arrived in London on Thursday to discuss personal terms with the club. “This is the best club,” he said upon touching down at Heathrow. “Antonio Conte is one of the best coaches in the world and I'm so happy to work with Antonio.”
Conte had initially identified Romelu Lukaku as his number one target but saw Manchester United beat them to the signature of the Belgian international after they themselves had also pursued Morata.
However, the Italian made it clear ahead of Morata’s official unveiling as a Chelsea player that the 24-year-old had always been their primary transfer target.
“This is a good signing for us as Morata is a young player but has a lot of experience and played in the past with Real Madrid and Juventus,” Conte added. “He is young and can improve a lot. This is a good signing for us.
“For sure this transfer market is a crazy market but it’s not only for this season, but now there is crazy money. If you want to buy a simple player, a normal player you have to start to think spending 4-50 million euros.
“It’s incredible this situation. But there is this situation and we must live with it. It’s the same. Lukaku cost a lot of money but the same with Lacazette and Arsenal spend £58m.
“Morata is our first choice. He’s a good striker, a player with the right prospects for Chelsea. He can show his value with us.”
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