Chelsea are high-flying at the moment, cruising at the crest of the league table with 7 wins in a row which include last weekend’s 2-1 London Derby triumph over Tottenham Hotspur. While their superstar striker Diego Costa leads the scoring chart with equal panache, 10 goals out of 13 matches.
Brimming with confidence and composure, any club in the world would love to have him in their team and reports have emerged that Inter Milan are widely keen to secure his services and are ready to make a £50 million bid.
The Italian side has clattered to the 8th position, 7 points off the final Champions League spot and 5 more points adrift from Juventus, who top the league with 33 points. Also, on the pitch, performances are nothing but a nuisance, nowhere close the caliber of a top-four team. Drastic time calls for drastic measures and the club’s Chinese owners have identified the former Atletico Madrid forward as a potent weapon to turn fortunes around.
On the other hand, with Costa being a cornerstone in Chelsea’s fluid attacking play, letting him go in the January transfer window or following windows would be a huge blow in Antonio Conte’s silverware quest. Inter Milan are reportedly weighing up a £50 million bid for the Spaniard, an amount that would entice other clubs to sell even their most prized possession but surely not the west London team, who are the 7th most valuable team in the world, according to Forbes 2016.
If miraculously Chelsea are to sell their fabulous forward in the January transfer window, it will not pay dividends as options are pretty limited to replace him. Moreover, it’s believed that Costa is on the verge of discussing a new deal with the club.
Besides, San Siro isn’t greener pastures. If Costa does agree to leave his present outfit, he would be eyeing a greater podium to pounce on both continental and domestic trophies, not carrying the burden of helping a team to qualify for Champions League. With every passing week, Chelsea are only multiplying their momentum to clinch their 6th Premier League title, thus it’s a clear-cut step down to move to the Italian team.
Apart from the Spaniard, their wish-list seems to grow longer as Angel Di Maria, James Rodriquez and Marco Verratti are other names eyed by Inter Milan. (The Sun)
Diving deeper into the squad, other news also highlights that Conte’s assistant Steve Holland will be leaving the club at the end of the campaign to join hands with Gareth Southgate, who is expected to take over as the England boss anytime soon. Holland has been with The Blues since 2009 as a reserve team manager and an influential figure of the backroom personnel, having worked with Roberto Di Matteo, Rafa Benitez, Andre Villas-Boas, Jose Mourinho and Guus Hiddink. It may not have hogged much of the media hype yet replacing the 46-year-old is no easy task.