It
is inevitable Chelsea striker Diego Costa will rejoin Atletico Madrid,
according to Sky Sports' Spanish football expert Terry Gibson.
Costa is currently in his native Brazil and has threatened to remain there
rather than return to London, and then leave on a free transfer.
Such a scenario is not acceptable to Chelsea, though, who want the player to
return to training and put himself in contention for selection.
However, Gibson believes the situation has not been handled well by the
Premier League champions.
"Chelsea have handled this badly," Gibson told the La Liga Weekly podcast.
"It has really depreciated his value in a market this summer where they
could have got an absolute fortune for Diego Costa.
"The way it was done in terms of the alleged text message between Antonio
Conte and Costa devalues the player's worth, and that was devalued even more
by the fact he only wants to go to one club.
"And it pretty much looks like every other club in Europe have not bothered
to make an offer to sign him, despite him being a top-quality striker,
because everyone assumes he is going to be going to Atletico Madrid.
"I can't believe there is not a deal to be done now, they have a transfer
ban until January, but it suits Atletico Madrid and Chelsea and it suits
Diego Costa.
"But it is not great for Conte to have Costa knocking around in Brazil doing
pretty much what he likes, and Chelsea still paying his wages I presume,
unless they are fining him on a daily basis for not turning up to training.
"And of course, with the way Chelsea started on the weekend, and if results
continue to go against them, the pressure will be on the manager that he
made the wrong decision."
Either way, Gibson feels Costa is the ideal man to lead the line for Diego
Simeone's side next season (albeit after their transfer ban has come to an
end in January), as the 28-year-old did for four years before leaving to
join Chelsea in 2014.
"He is the perfect centre forward for Atletico Madrid," said Gibson. "He
would make such a difference for Atletico if the transfer does go through
and he can start playing in January.
"And it seems inevitable that he is going to be playing for Atletico Madrid
from January onwards, whether he goes on loan somewhere before. I can't see
that now as it will take him a month to get fit from doing his own training
back home, as he is based in Brazil at the moment and has not had a
pre-season.
"I can't see an ideal club where he would go out on loan which would serve
the purpose, so it may well be that, just as with Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal
did, they have to sit and be patient, miss the least important part of the
season from now till January.
"Atletico should get through the qualifying stages and cope in the Champions
League, they should still be challenging in La Liga come the January
transfer window and then it maybe is beneficial to have a player like Costa
back.
"I can imagine the training sessions he will be put through if he signs for
Atletico in November or December to make sure he is ready for January.
"So a hungry Diego Costa in January could cause havoc in La Liga."
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