Chelsea at brink of a transfer fiasco with Diego Costa and Romelu Lukaku

Chelsea may sell Diego Costa at a desperation discount as Manchester United launch a final bidding war for Romelu Lukaku. How did it come to this?

Antonio Conte’s break-up text to Diego Costa may end up being a 50%-off coupon for Atletico Madrid at Chelsea’s summer transfer sale. All sides want the matter resolved by Sunday, ahead of Monday’s start to Chelsea’s pre-season fitness assessments. Atletico senses Chelsea’s grim situation and are reportedly offering £22 million for Costa – and expect Chelsea to accept the bid.

Sensing blood in the water – or simply attracted to human misery, Dementor-like – Manchester United may make an opportunistic move of their own. While Atletico low-ball the Blues, United may offer Everton £100 million for Romelu Lukaku.

Antonio Conte wants to avoid last year’s deadline day maneuvers and have his squad in place for the entirety of pre-season. One piece of that is ensuring that Diego Costa is not present to create awkwardness or drama among the players and staff. He wants Costa gone, and likely realizes that his text complicated the issue for his bosses.

The other piece is bringing in his new transfers so he can have maximum time to assess and train them, and for his team to bond. Chelsea have only one week of pre-season in England before leaving for their tour in Asia. Conte wants to return from that trip with a cohesive group of players well-schooled in his tactics.

Despite having over £120 million from transfer sales in the bank and a Premier League trophy to attract talent, Chelsea have weakened their bargaining position at every turn. Their reluctance to spend early allowed rumours of Conte’s discontent to flourish. The apparent crack in unity was all the opening other clubs needed.

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Other interested buyers for Chelsea’s transfer targets crafted offers of their own. The prospective sellers (Everton, Real Madrid, Juventus, to name a few) sought and entertained those offers. By moving quickly they could swoop for Chelsea’s targets or extract more concessions from Stamford Bridge.

Add to this the many layers of personal pique and boardroom politics. Antonio Conte, Michael Emenalo and Roman Abramovich fighting over the lines of control. Diego Costa and Conte continuing their alpha male spat. Jose Mourinho and Manchester United looking for any opportunity to get one over on Chelsea. Everton seemingly adding a million pounds to Lukaku’s fee with each passing day. And all the transfer targets questioning whether Chelsea really want them.

Most Chelsea fans – and perhaps Antonio Conte himself – expected Chelsea to open July by announcing Romelu Lukaku, Tiemoue Bakayoko and at least one other player, likely a wing-back. Instead, the Blues signed Willy Caballero and may be close to Antonio Rudiger. Of all the contingencies Antonio Conte planned for, reporting to pre-season without a starting striker may not have been – and certainly should not have been – one of them.

Six weeks ago, Chelsea were the most attractive destination for any ambitious player. For Romelu Lukaku, they were the chance to play in the Champions League. For Alvaro Morata, they were the chance to actually play instead of watching galacticos from the bench. For Alex Sandro and the rest, they were the opportunity to play for Antonio Conte and be part of a mini-revolution in the Premier League.

Next: Antonio Rudiger arrival effectively ends Andreas Christensen's Chelsea hopes

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