According to SFR Sport in France, Chelsea striker Diego Costa was subject to a huge offer from China last month, which led to his falling out with Antonio Conte.
Chinese Super League club Tianjin Quanjian, who are managed by World Cup and Ballon D’Or winner Fabio Cannavaro, are reported to have offered Chelsea £90 million for the Spain international. Costa in turn was a huge wage package of £85 million over three years to move to China.
Chelsea rejected the offer, which would have made Costa the second most expensive player in the world behind Paul Pogba, probably because in January they could not sign another world class striker to replace Costa.
It is claimed Costa was interested in the move, which led to his falling out with Conte in January, as he was upset that Chelsea would not let him leave.
Costa was dropped for Chelsea’s Premier League game against Leicester City amid reports of a mega-offer from the Far East, although Chelsea said at the time that he was injured.
Tianjin owner Shu Yuhui confirmed in January that talks had been held between himself and Jorge Mendes, Costa’s agent, while Conte is refusing to discuss the striker’s future until the end of the season.
Costa has since returned to the Chelsea team, scoring their final goal in the 3-1 league win over Swansea City on Saturday that took them 11 points clear in the title race.
Chelsea have done a tremendous job selling their players for top money in the recent years and if Tianjin Quanjian comes back in the summer with a similar offer I would expect Chelsea to accept it as it is probably at least £30m more than any other club would pay for Costa.
