Chelsea striker Diego Costa looks set to leave Chelsea in the summer after reports said the Spaniard has signed a pre-contract agreement with Chinese Super League team, Tianjian Quanjian. If the deal goes through, he would join the likes of Alexandre Pato and Axel Witsel under manager Fabio Cannavaro, the Italian legend.
Reports suggest Costa and his agent Jorge Mendes met with four senior figures from Tianjin Quanjian last week in London to discuss a potential move to the Chinese Super League. The Chinese Super League outfit is supposedly ready to pay Costa £600,000 a week. While the jury is still out on transfer fee, Chelsea are expected to receive around £76.1 million for the Spanish forward.
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Tianjian Quanjian tried to sign Costa in the January transfer window for £80 million around the same time the forward and Chelsea manager Antonio Conte had a big bust up. But the move didn't materialise. Now, the Chelsea hierarchy feels Costa wants to make the move to China. The Chelsea higher-ups believe the huge wage Chinese club has offered might have convinced Costa to go ahead with the move.
Costa expressed his wish to leave Chelsea at the start of this season and reportedly told Conte about his desire to leave when they first met. Costa claims he 'did all I could' to force a transfer but Chelsea refused to sell him.
Despite being one of Premier Leagues most consistent performer since moving to England in 2014, the Brazil-born striker is looking for a new challenge and a huge payday.
Just like the Oscar deal, Chelsea are set to receive a huge transfer fee for the sale of Diego Costa. This would also leave Chelsea without a recognised striker. With Michy Batshuayi still not a first team material, Conte may invest money on either re-signing Romelu Lukaku from Everton, or land Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid.
