La Liga side Atletico Madrid have sent a delegation to hold talks with Chelsea bosses over wantaway Blues star Diego Costa.
The officials from the Spanish club landed in London yesterday in order to hold discussions with Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia.
Atletico Madrid are serving a transfer ban until January 1 2018, but they could agree in principle with the Blues over a deal for Costa, that would allow the Spanish striker to immediately join the Los Rojiblancos in the new year.
The La Liga side have already agreed personal terms with Costa and are ready to pay him £9.1m-a-season.
Atletico are also ready to increase their offer up to £32m in a bid to tempt Chelsea into selling Costa.
FootTheBall sources close to the player reveal that a deal could be finally struck in the coming days.
Diego Costa is not wanted at Chelsea anymore after Antonio Conte had informed him that he is no longer in his plans via text message earlier this summer.
And the Spanish striker has since gone AWOL and has refused to return to training at Chelsea’s Cobham HQ.
Costa has spent the summer back in his hometown of Lagarto and is being fined on a regular basis for not returning to training at Chelsea.
Costa made it clear that he wants to return to Atletico Madrid. There was plenty of talk that he might be bought by the Madrid side and loaned out until he could be registered for them in 2018.
But the Blues outcast failed to secure his move to former club Atletico Madrid last month.
Chelsea messed up their summer business on deadline day with several top targets turning down the Premier League champions for moves elsewhere.
And Conte admitted it was not ideal.
He said: “It’s very difficult.”
“We have to wait until the end of the season and then we’ll see.”
“Then I can reply very well to this question.”