After a debut season which saw him endear himself to Chelsea fans and achieve success far beyond what was expected, Antonio Conte has only one black mark against his name. The increasingly infamous text message he sent to Diego Costa at the end of the season, thanking the striker for his hard work but saying he was no longer part of his plans at the club, was a moment of unexpected misjudgment from a manager who had done little wrong up until that point.
Costa showed the text to the Spanish media, and played himself into position as the victim of the situation. More importantly, the striker’s price took a plunge once it was public knowledge that Conte wanted him out, and that there was no going back between player and club.
While it is still the case that Costa’s fee has suffered due to the fallout of this misstep, in light of recent revelations, the blame cannot be placed as squarely on Conte as it was before. Given what the Italian coach said about the matter in Beijing this week, his text was not as out of the blue as it seemed. While reluctant to speak about the Brazilian forward – essentially because he no longer sees him as part of the team – Conte did reveal that it had been all but agreed between the striker, his agent and Chelsea that this summer would see his departure. This was in January, when Chinese clubs were turning the Spain international’s head and he was briefly dropped from the Chelsea first team.
“In January, the Costa situation was very clear for the club, for him and his agent,” the Chelsea boss said.
In the light of this, Conte’s text was a confirmation rather than a revelation for Costa. The striker, using the smarts that serve him so well on the pitch, turned the situation to his advantage by showing the press the message and making himself the victim. His manager made a mistake by sending it at all, but the error was minor in comparison to how it first appeared.
