Chelsea Transfer News: Everton's Failed Diego Costa Bid, Pietro Pellegri Latest

Everton reportedly attempted a £66 million move to sign Diego Costa this past summer but were turned down by the former Chelsea frontman. Meanwhile, Inter Milan have indicated they could rival the London club for Genoa starlet Pietro Pellegri.

Madrid-based newspaper Marca reported Everton offered €75 million (£66 million) to take Costa from Stamford Bridge to Goodison Park, but he "only wanted to play at Atletico Madrid."

According to the report, Costa "refused to listen to any offer that was not from Atleti" as he attempted to escape Antonio Conte's Chelsea squad, meaning Everton manager Ronald Koeman fell short in his audacious bid.

The Toffees had the funds to contemplate such a move after selling Romelu Lukaku to Manchester United for £75 million, but BBC Sport pundit Chris Sutton questioned why no replacement of the same calibre was signed:

Sandro Ramirez was brought to Merseyside from Malaga, and Wayne Rooney—set to turn 32 in October—returned to his old club, although neither of those stars carry the same attacking threat as Lukaku.

At the least, Chelsea appear to have moved on from Costa—who will officially rejoin Atletico for a total of €55 million (£48.7 million)—with the acquisition of Alvaro Morata, who has started well in west London, per Squawka:

The failed move for Costa is yet further evidence to the bigger spending habits Everton are developing under majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri, although successful transfers are the only ones fans will pay much attention to.

Elsewhere, Inter director of football Piero Ausilio spoke to Italian broadcaster Premium Sport prior to his side's 1-0 win over Genoa and said Chelsea target Pellegri is on the Nerazzurri's radar (h/t Calciomercato.com):

“I can't rule out Inter will make a new attempt to sign him.

“He is a great footballer and we are following him since very long time. We already have youngsters who are as good as he is but we are still interested in Pellegri.

“We have some great footballers, most of them play for their national teams. We don't want to make the same mistakes we did in the past, we've just begun our path."

Pellegri may be only 16 years of age, but he is swiftly showing he belongs at the senior level, although Italian journalist Tancredi Palmeri attested to the links that could keep him at Genoa:

Despite his age, Pellegri already stands at an impressive 6'2" and is sure to develop into an even more imposing force the further he heads into his teens, hence the attention from clubs such as Inter and Chelsea.

Ausilio's comments don't alter the race for Pellegri's services much in that Italy's giants were sure to be tracking his progress, although the Inter chief's public stance shows just how serious the Nerazzurri are in their interest.