Antonio Conte has confirmed that he did have a training ground row with Diego Costa but insists his relationship with the Chelsea striker is now ‘perfect’.
The Spain international was dropped for the win over Leicester City last month after he was involved in a heated exchange with Conte and Chelsea’s fitness coaches over a back problem.
The row also occurred after Chelsea received an £80 million bid for Costa from Tianjin Quanjian, and it’s understood that the club feared that the striker had his head turned by a £30m-a-year contract offer from the Chinese Super League side.
‘I was very clear with him and raised my voice and the player understood,’ Conte told Sky Sport Italia about the incident.
‘Now everything is perfect.’
Conte also insists ‘blind faith’ in his 3-4-3 system played a huge part in Chelsea’s title challenge this season.
‘We had won the first three games, but I didn’t like the performances. It was a delicate time, but not dramatic,’ said the Italian.
‘Looking at last season, when Chelsea had practically the same players, you cannot immediately transform from ugly ducking into a swan.
‘At the end of the day we found our balance. The blind faith in my ideas helped. I made some strong choices.’
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