DIEGO COSTA has been told by Atletico Madrid to thrash out a peace deal with Chelsea before they will consider signing him.
It means the Blues’ rebel striker is now under more pressure than
ever to return to England and resolve the stand-off that is
overshadowing the start to the season.
Chelsea are asking for £50million, but Atletico are only ready to pay half that.
The Spaniard has been AWOL for five weeks after a text row with boss Antonio Conte.
And there has been little sign of a breakthrough in the whole tit-for-tat row.
Costa, 29, has said he only wants to play for his former club in Spain now he has no future with the Premier League champions.
But the summer-long saga is in limbo while the player refuses to bow to Chelsea’s demands to come back to England and resume training.
Chelsea are able to fine him two weeks’ wages — around £300,000 — every fortnight when there is another unauthorised absence.
Worryingly for Costa, Chelsea have got their act together after losing their first game at home to Burnley.
They beat Tottenham 2-1 at Wembley on Sunday to show they are moving on without him, with new striker Alvaro Morata showing promising signs up front.
Costa has been holed up in Brazil since July when the rest of his team reported back for pre-season training.
He still has a house in Madrid and hopes being close to his old club will help force through the transfer both parties want.
Atletico’s transfer ban until January is proving the major sticking point though.
But Costa could sign for them and just train until the new year when he will be cleared to play.
Atletico — who also have another former Chelsea striker, Fernando Torres, on their books — are keen to settle the matter as diplomatically as possible.
And that is why they want Costa to overcome his fallout with Conte before they will do business.
There are only ten days left until the transfer window closes on August 31.
Chelsea still want another midfielder, with Leicester’s Danny Drinkwater and Arsenal’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on their list.