La Liga giants Atletico Madrid have not given up on their hopes of signing Diego Costa from Chelsea this summer. While the likes of Aubameyang, Lacazette and Gameiro also interest Diego Simeone, but the Atletico boss is desperate to be reunited with the Spain international.
Chelsea have refused to negotiate a deal for Costa, so far, but the scenario could change if the player forces a move or the new manager Antonio Conte sign at least two strikers.
One of them is already sorted, with the Blues having already sealed a deal for Belgium striker Michy Batshuayi who confirmed his €40m move from Olympic Marseille on Sunday. And the London giants are looking to sign another top striker, with Gonzalo Higuain being earmarked as a priority summer target.
Higuain, 28, has enjoyed a phenomenal campaign for Napoli in 2015/16, where he scored 36 goals in Serie A, creating a new goal scoring record in the league. Higuain is a world class striker but despite his imperious goal scoring record, he is often accused of letting his team down in big games.
He missed a sitter against Chile in the Copa America Centenario final while also failed to convert gilt-edged chances in the 2014 World Cup final against Germany and 2015 Copa America final against Chile; incidentally, in all of those matches Argentina ended up as the second best.
Higuain doesn’t want to continue with Napoli beyond this summer. He has a contract with the Naples club till 2018 but his brother Nicolas Higuain has made it clear that the Argentine won’t sign a new deal with the Serie A outfit.
Atletico Madrid have had shown an interest in signing Higuain but they backed off after Napoli president Di Laurentiis slapped a €94m price tag on the Argentine’s shoulders.
Spanish newspaper AS reckon Chelsea are “getting closer” to their plans of signing Higuain this summer. Despite missing out on Champions League football for the 2016/17 campaign, Chelsea still can dish out the figure asked by Napoli, thanks to the multi-million Premier League TV right deal.
Conte wants Costa to stay at the London club but the Italian won’t stand in the way if the striker intends to return to Atletico. Costa played 134 games for Atletico, where he scored 64 goals and managed 22 assists during his stint at the Spanish club from 2010-2014.
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