Diego Costa and Jose Mourinho have not seen eye to eye over the past couple of weeks, and former Chelsea goalkeeper Mark Bosnich believes it could be the "beginning of the end" for the former Atletico Madrid striker as far as his future at Stamford Bridge is concerned.
Costa had a few choice words to say back at Mourinho recently when the Chelsea manager seemed to berate the striker for not anticipating a pass.
Rumours of unrest were quickly shot down by the Portuguese, but the problems were plain for everyone to see when Costa found himself back on the bench for the English Premier League encounter against Tottenham on Sunday, and then threw his training bib towards his manager when it became clear he would not even come on as a substitute.
Bosnich, the former Chelsea man, believes the relationship between player and manager looks like it has reached such a point that Costa, who has struggled to recapture his form from last season, looks destined to leave.
"It didn't look good," Bosnich told TalkSport. "Generally when you are with a manager and you do that type of thing, it is the beginning of the end.
"Not going out for the warm-up, I can understand that completely, but throwing the bib at the manager during the game points to one way.
"They probably won't do it immediately but I really do think it is the beginning of the end, which is really unfortunate because he has been a smash hit since he has been at Chelsea."
The Guardian have suggested Mourinho will bring Costa back for the English Premier League match against Bournemouth next Saturday, despite the striker's tantrums during Sunday's game at White Hart Lane.
If that is the case, the only way for Costa to show he belongs in the starting lineup will be by scoring a couple of goals against the relegation-threatened outfit.
Chelsea are currently 14th in the Premier League table with 15 points, 12 points adrift of the top four positions.