Diego Costa resigned to Chelsea exit but keen on rejoining Atletico Madrid

Diego Costa has raised the possibility of signing for Atletico Madrid and joining another club on loan until their transfer ban ends in January.

It's suggested that Romelu Lukaku is close to sealing a £70m move to Stamford Bridge, thus why Conte sent that well-publicised text to Diego Costa last week informing him that he didn't form part of his plans at Chelsea moving forward.

Costa has not hidden his intention to return to Athletico Madrid but revealed that the transfer ban now imposed on the club might be a stumbling block to any potential move. "I do not know, it's complicated, but people know that I love Atletico a lot and that I love to live in Madrid", Costa said.

Spain and Chelsea striker, Diego Costa, spoke to TVE after the game against Macedonia that saw Costa score his sixth goal for Spain and his side's second on the night.

Furthermore, the fact that Chelsea will now nearly certainly be losing their leading centre forward for next season, will only harden Everton's resolve to squeeze as much money as possible out of them in their own negotiations over Lukaku's return to Stamford Bridge. The Italian midfielder's agent has confirmed that the player has offers from clubs across Europe, but admits that it will be a hard to engineer a move owing to his lengthy contract that runs until 2021 if his current employers Paris Saint-Germain do not want to sell. They are the ones who know what they will do.

After a midseason fallout over a proposed move to China - Costa missed a victory at Leicester City in January due to a "back problem" before being reinstated to the team - Conte has decided that enough is enough and the eccentric, and often fractious, Costa must move on.

English football champions Chelsea are still to make any final decision on the future of their star striker Diego Costa. If they want to sell me, they'll have to sell me. But would Costa and Mourinho be able to patch up their relationship? I'll stay with the good of everything.

"The most important thing is that my team-mates want me".

Conte is also said to be interested in having another crack at signing Marco Verratti after missing out on signing him during his stint at Juventus.

Asia has, however, been ruled out as a possible destination ahead of next summer's World Cup. But well, thanks to God I do not lack teams. We know what there is there, who is good and bad.

He added: 'To be honest, now, I find it very hard.