Diego Costa has told Chelsea he wants to leave & return to Atletico Madrid

After a stunning first season in English football, Diego Costa struggled last campaign and rumours of his desire to return to Atletico Madrid have been rife for some time.

On Friday, Madrid-based newspaper AS confirms that Costa still wants to leave Chelsea and return to Atletico Madrid, but it could turn into a complicated summer for the Brazilian-born Spanish striker.

Both Chelsea manager Antonio Conte and owner Roman Abramovich have been told that Costa wants to leave the Blues and return to his former club.

But, Chelsea are not willing to even negotiate with Atletico Madrid until they have secured a replacement.

Costa keen to pull a Filipe Luis

Costa is not expected to make a public statement about his desire to leave the club but his desire to leave is well known by the hierarchy at Chelsea.

The Blues have signed Michy Batshuayi from Marseille but are waiting to sign a top level striker before they will consider discussing Costa’s departure with Atletico.

Costa saw his former team mate Filipe Luis move from Chelsea back to Atletico last summer and is keen to pull off a similar transfer.

The Spanish striker will be on Chelsea’s pre-season tour of Austria this weekend but expect plenty of speculation in the coming weeks about Diego Costa’s future.