Chelsea did good business replacing Diego Costa with Alvaro Morata last summer if the value of both players are measured in the market, according to Antonio Conte.
Costa was shipped off to Atletico Madrid last summer, after a prolonged tussle with head coach, Conte. The pair did not see eye to eye after the end of last season, when Costa revealed his head coach had sent him a text, telling him to find a new club.
That was overblown in the media until Conte explained there had been an agreement in January 2017, between the club and striker, he was to leave in the summer. Their feud got worse and the player had to be sold for a rather remarkable fee of £60 million to his former club while Alvaro Morata was brought in from Real Madrid for £58m.
The Italian manager insists Chelsea were wise in their dealings after replacing a 29-year old with a then 24-year old was a good way of acting in the market.
“For a striker, to spend 55m Euros [£58m] on a young player like Morata, and selling Costa for 60m [£60m] Euros, a player older than Morata… that was a good sign for the club.”
Antonio Conte, Evening Standard
