Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
With Romelu Lukaku dropping a not so subtle hint earlier in the week in regards to his next club it has had people asking the question that should the Belgian move to Chelsea as expected then what would become of Diego Costa’s time at Stamford Bridge.
Well it seems that with comments made this morning by Costa himself a departure from West London now looks very much on the cards. The Spanish international was quoted as saying “I’m a Chelsea player, but they do not want me there, My relationship with the coach has been bad this season. It’s a shame, I’ve already forwarded the message to Chelsea people to decide”
If you were to put two and two together then the logical conclusion is that the purchase of Lukaku will hasten the departure of Costa, now a transfer window and all the gossip that circulates around it does often thrown up illogical solutions but this one looks to be a certainity.
As and when the return to Chelsea materialises for Romelu Lukaku, you then have to consider just where exactly Diego Costa goes next as the two most obvious avenues have now been closed off. His former club Atletico Madrid are currently in the midst of a transfer ban and cannot register players until January.
That perhaps would not be the worst move for the former Atletico forward but in a World Cup season you want to be playing as much football as possible, therefore the 28 year old cannot really afford to spend half a season kicking his heels while waiting to be registered.
By the same token he cannot really afford to be sitting on the bench for Chelsea next season therefore other options will have to be considered. One of those was meant to a move to the riches of the Chinese Super League and a move to Tianjin Quanjian.
That was a move that did not facilitate at the start of the year and it could be a case of missed opportunity for Costa as the Chinese Football Association have now tightened the regulations in regards to foreign players, where four could be fielded it is now cut down to three.
Meaning that whether it is Chelsea or China then Diego Costa is the odd man out. The twist in this could be that Brazilian born player rolls up sleeves and bids to fight for his place in the first team but it would almost be a fruitful endeavour.
If Lukaku does sign for Chelsea for what is to believed a fee north of £70m then that intimates that he is going to be the undisputed no.1 in regards to attackers next season, therefore marginalising Costa’s role down to that of substitite and cup appearances.
A role that was fulfilled by Michy Batshuyai last season, now if Costa was to stay then it would be his future that would be up in the air. But if manager Antonio Conte was to sell one of his forwards then it would make better sense to sell the more expensive asset.
Quite clearly if you are told you are no longer in a managers plans then no matter how much you love the club for all intents and purposes your time is up. The comments from Diego Costa will now have clubs ready to test the water with bids to prize him away from West London.
The obvious exit routes may have been closed off but you must not forget this is a striker who has won two Premier League titles in three seasons while scoring 20 goals on the way to winning this seasons trophy, with that mind there will surely be a steady list of suitors ready to acquire his services.
