Conte reveals when he decided to sell Costa

Chelsea manager, Antonio Conte, has revealed that he decided to sell Diego Costa in January.

Conte and Costa reportedly fell out, after the Italian refused to let the striker join Chinese Super League side, Tianjin Quanjian.

The player was subsequently dropped from the Chelsea squad for the Premier League game against Leicester City, although he returned to help Conte’s men claim the Premier League title, scoring 20 goals over the course of the campaign.

With the Blues on the brink of signing Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid as his replacement, Conte has opened up on when Costa’s time at Stamford Bridge ended

“I don’t like to talk about players who are not here,” Conte told reporters ahead of Saturday’s game against Arsenal in Beijing.

“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. For me, the situation is closed.”