Diego Costa threatens to hand in transfer request to force through £50m move to Atletico Madrid
Striker's lawyer insists it's Atletico or bust after 'unfair behaviour of Antonio Conte makes it impossible to return' to Chelsea
DIEGO COSTA will hand in a transfer request in a bid to force a move back to Atletico Madrid.
The Spanish striker's lawyer insists the Chelsea player does not want to play for anyone other than Atletico.
Ricardo Cardoso also revealed that his client's hands are tied because the "unfair behaviour of Antonio Conte makes it impossible to return to the English club".
Cardoso told Spanish publication "We are going to use all legal mechanisms to hold Chelsea accountable for his behavior, making it possible for Diego Costa to leave.
"We will formally request the transfer request.
"When he was in the service of the Spanish team [for the friendly against Colombia on June 7] and before travelling to Brazil to enjoy holidays was dismissed from Chelsea by SMS by coach Antonio Conte."
Conte has continually refuted that claim, making it perfectly clear that Costa knew in January that his time at the Blues was coming to the end over the summer.
Conte said: "I don’t like to talk about players who are not here but the only thing I can tell you [is that] in January, the Costa situation was very clear, for the club for him and his agent.
CHELSEA TRANSFER STORIES
"For me the situation is closed."
Chelsea have bought Alvaro Morata to replace Costa, who has also been linked with AC Milan.
But Costa has his heart set on rejoining Atletico, even though they are unable to register players until January due to a transfer ban.
So Costa, who scored 52 goals for Chelsea in his three seasons in the Premier League, will be forced to park himself on the bench until January 1.
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