Costa won’t be able to play for Atletico Madrid until 2 January when the loan deal will start. The permanent move is then set to go through on 1 July 2018 but he will finally see an end to talk over his future after spending all summer in Brazil.
Diego Simeone has made it his personal mission to bring Costa back to his old club after signing his new contract in early September. He has seen his club make significant progress on the deal and Costa could arrive into Madrid to finalise it at the weekend.
Chelsea snubbed Atletico Madrid’s interest in Costa in the summer of 2016. The forward pushed to move to Tianjin Quanjian in January but the deal was delayed as Chelsea fought for the title. The Chinese club offered almost triple his wages and were willing to pay a £76 million fee to Chelsea.
The deal collapsed after the Chinese Super League imposed a 100 per cent tax on transfers for foreign players. Atletico Madrid then re-ignited their interest but they suffered a transfer ban which has delayed their ability to bring in Costa.
Goal.com
