“?Chelsea have “?reportedly put a £130million price tag on striker Diego Costa in the hope that they will at least secure a world-record fee for the Spaniard if Chinese Super League club, Tianjin Quanjian, still wish to complete a move for the player.
The Brazil-born footballer looked likely to be on his way to China earlier this month when an altercation between the player and manager, Antonio Conte, ended with the Italian shouting “go to China!” At Costa.
The forward looked to have taken the advice of his manager and was dropped from the squad for the 2-0 win over Leicester City as he pondered the offer of £500,000 per week wages at the Chinese club.
Interest in the player was reportedly over, however, when changes to the rules of the league limited the number of foreign players that each club would be able to name in their match day squad to just three – making things a little tricky for Tianjin, who already signed Belgian midfielder Axel Witsel this month.
Despite the end of Tianjin’s pursuit, a move for Costa could still be on with the striker said to still be in contact with ex-Chelsea player, Oscar, who left the club for a fee in the region of £60m to Shanghai SIPG and is attempting to convince Costa to do the same.
Costa is believed to want higher wages at his current club, who currently pay him £150,000 per week, with a figure of around £300,000 said to be requested by the striker – an issue that is exacerbated by his chats with Oscar, who earns £21m per year after tax.
There is some incentive for Chelsea too as the club would be able to find an adequate replacement with the £130m that they would receive for the forward, breaking the £93m transfer record that United set with the signing of Paul Pogba.
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