Diego Costa and Tianjin Quanjian agree on transfer fee and wages, El Larguero reports
By George Perry
Diego Costa may only need Chelsea’s final signature on his transfer deal to Tianjin Quanjian. Spanish radio reports that Costa and the Chinese Super League club have agreed to contract terms.
Ever since Antonio Conte supposedly yelled “Go to China!” during a training ground row with Diego Costa, Chelsea fans have been hoping the striker would do just that. Whether he was distracted by the amount on offer or demoralized by Conte’s reaction, Costa has shown little interest in the Blues ever since.
According to Spanish radio show El Larguero, Costa and his agent Jorge Mendes secured a pre-contract with Tianjin Quanjian last week. Costa, Mendes and Tianjin Quanjian representatives supposedly met to finalize his wage packet and transfer fee: £25 million per year and a £75 million transfer fee.
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El Larguero is the leading football show on Cadena Ser, Spain’s most popular and oldest radio network. They are among the more reliable outlets for football news. Their extensive sources and their reputation for corroborating rumours and reports give El Larguero more credibility than many other outlets.
For the last few months Costa’s head has been in the Chinese Super League. Unfortunately for Chelsea, his body remains in the Premier League. He had his best game of 2017 last week against Southampton. He netted a brace, but more importantly he resisted his recent urges to seek cheap whistles and start spats.
Before Southampton, Costa had gone seven games without a goal. During that time he gave in to every antagonism and provocation, picking up four yellow cards. He went to ground on the slightest (or no) contact. As his reputation as a hot-head and a diver returned, officials refused to give him any benefit of the doubt on calls that should have gone Chelsea’s way.
Costa’s recent return to a shadow of his early season form may indicate that he is no longer stressed about his future. Tying up the terms with his agent may have rejuvenated him against Southampton. This could bode well for his contributions to Chelsea’s run-in to the title.
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The Blues need a potent – or at least a functional – striker to see out this season at the top of the table. Diego Costa could be as important to the finish as he was to the start. However, if his Jekyll-Hyde act of the second half of the season is due to his transfer situation, then Chelsea fans should feel no sadness to see him go.