The entire Diego Costa transfer saga has been a battle of wills between Chelsea, Costa and Atletico, which began when Antonio Conte sent that fateful text.
Since then the balance of power has swung back and forth between the various parties, but today with the announcement of a big money transfer, it appears the Blues have won.
At the end of the season Chelsea were in their weakest position, with Costa unhappy and able to prove that his manager had wronged him with that text. At that point the fees Atletico were linked with being willing to pay were closer to £30m than the £50+ being mentioned today.
In that period Costa went through his now infamous Brazilian holdout to try and force his club’s hand, but Chelsea held firm. Even as the transfer window shut they refused to sell the Spain international on the cheap, and didn’t budge on the price.
Now the pressure was on Atletico, who know that the forward is likely to need the two and a bit months from now until January to get up to full speed in fitness and in Diego Simeone’s system. So finally, they’ve paid the money Chelsea were asking in the first place.
It wasn’t easy, but determination, so famously an attribute of Costa’s has won the war for Chelsea.
