Chelsea Transfer News: Latest Diego Costa and Nemanja Matic Exit Rumours

After months of speculation, it seems Chelsea striker Diego Costa will be staying at Stamford Bridge for the 2016/17 campaign.

Costa has been linked with a return to Atletico Madrid throughout the summer, but the Spanish giants put that rumour to bed by signing Sevilla star Kevin Gameiro on Saturday.

Atletico had previously flirted with the idea of bringing back their former forward, but as Gianluca Di Marzio and Marca revealed, the La Liga side deemed the transfer “impossible,” via Eurosport.

Marca reporter Chris Winterburn also suggested that Gameiro’s arrival in the Spanish capital ends Chelsea’s rumoured pursuit of Alvaro Morata:

Blues fans will be boosted by the news of Costa potentially staying put, as he’s proved an incredibly useful asset down the years.

Not only is he lethal in front of goal, but he has the ability to get a psychological edge over defenders and cause them nightmares.

However, Costa had apparently been keen to push through a deal to return to Spain, which means you can’t fully write off the chances of it happening.

Eurosport Spain’s Cristian Maxedo commented that if Andrea Correa heads for the exit door, Costa could still get his wish: “Griezmann, Gameiro, Torres and Correa seems to be a good set of forwards for Atletico. Only a loan of Angel Correa to another team—such as Barcelona, who have been keen—could reopen the Costa deal.”

Ivan Sekretarev/Associated Press

Either way, the calls for Chelsea to sign a new striker couldn’t be louder. Quality in depth cost the Blues dearly last season, and even if Costa does stay in west London, the competition for a starting berth up front for Antonio Conte’s team isn’t as ferocious as it needs to be.

Elsewhere, Chelsea face a battle to hang on to central midfielder Nemanja Matic.

According to Spanish newspaper Sport, Real Madrid are keen to bring the Serb to the Bernabeu after missing out on Paul Pogba, via James Cambridge of Daily Express.

Frank Augstein/Associated Press

The Champions League holders are reportedly set to launch a £34 million bid to secure his services, and they’re hoping that will be enough to tempt Chelsea into a sale.

Conte’s arrival at Stamford Bridge should give the Blues the tactical expertise they need to make up for last season’s embarrassment, but there’s still plenty of work to do in the transfer window if they want to push for the title.

New defenders, another central midfielder and a striker will give the Italian a great platform from which to build, as Chelsea look to wrest their trophy back from Leicester City’s clutches.