Fallout at Chelsea between Costa and Conte

Chelsea striker Diego Costa has allegedly been involved in a vehement row with manager Antonio Conte and the club’s medical staff, according to various reports that have emerged last night. The reason for the fallout is believed to be Costa’s fitness issues.

The 28-year-old Brazilian striker, who has a history of hamstring injuries, believes he has a lower back problem and is reluctant to compromise his return to full fitness and hence wanted a rest this week. The club’s medical staff, however, are reportedly skeptical of the player’s injury claims. Conte backed his medical staff and Costa was expected by Chelsea to report to training as usual. This led to a furious altercation between the player and the manager at Chelsea’s training ground.

The former Atletico Madrid forward has been left out of the Blues squad for  Saturday night’s clash against defending champions, Leicester City, at the King Power Stadium, apparently as a result of the spat.

The scandal has brought more bad news for the Stamford Bridge faithful, as strong rumors have surfaced that offers have been made by Chinese clubs for Costa, that could see the player earning a stupendous £30 million per year, thus putting his Chelsea future in serious doubt. The spat reportedly ended with an upset Conte telling Costa to “go to China”.

What’s worse, it seems that it has been a while since disagreement started brewing between Costa and the Chelsea authorities. When asked about Dimitri Payet’s situation at West Ham at Chelsea’s press conference ahead of the Leicester game, Conte replied,”It’s very difficult to talk and above all it’s very difficult for me to talk about another player. For my club, for my players, we solve our problem if there are problems. This is important.”

Costa, though, sent a sigh of relief among the Chelsea by showing his support for the team on social media. “Come on Chelsea” he captioned the pic he posted on Instagram a few hours ago.

Costa has been a vital cog for Chelsea’s campaign this season and has been crucial for them being at the top of the table in the Premier League, netting 14 times so far, thus leading the race for the Golden Boot ahead of the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Sergio Aguero.