Incoming Chelsea manager Antonio Conte will make it his first priority to keep Diego Costa at Stamford Bridge next season, despite a number of Blues players already believing that the striker’s decided to leave the club in the summer.
Conte was appointed the Blues’ next permanent manager on Monday afternoon and will take over from interim boss Guus Hiddink after the summer’s European Championships, where he will be in charge of the Italy national side.
The former Juventus boss is already planning for his move to west London though and reports have quickly emerged speculating over a number of players that Conte wants to bring to England for the 2016/17 campaign.
But according to the Mirror, top of the 46-year-old’s to-do list will be to keep hold of prize asset Costa, who has been relatively unhappy at the Bridge all season, sparking rumours of a move back to Atletico Madrid.
Conte is a huge admirer of the Spain international and although his Chelsea team-mates believe he is on his way out at the end of the season, the new manager is set to be presented with a huge transfer kitty and will do everything in his power to convince the centre-forward to stay.
Costa’s season has been blighted by controversies but his return to goalscoring form under Hiddink has provided further evidence of the quality he has as a striker.
The 27-year-old, who earns £150,000-a-week, has scored 11 goals in 24 Premier League appearances this term, eight of which have come in his last 11 games, but he hasn’t featured since the start of March after picking up a three-game ban.
His constant run-ins with the law seem to have him beelining for a move away from England but Conte hopes to convince him of otherwise.
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