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Lawyer to Chelsea striker, Diego Costa, Ricardo Cardoso, has warned that his client will use ‘all legal mechanisms’ to force a transfer, alleging that Coach Antonio Conte’s treatment of the player amounted to ‘discriminatory behaviour’.
Costa has been frozen out of the Chelsea team since the begining if the 2017 pre-season. It started with a text message from Conte, telling the striker that he had no place in the Chelsea team this season.
Costa is currently seeking a move out of Stamford bridge but the club is still hesitant in letting him go to Spain.
In an interview with Daily Mail at te weekend,Costa said legal proceedings are yet to begin, explaining: “At the moment, no. I want people to do things the right way.
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“Why won’t they let me go if they don’t want me? I have to do what I have to do. I have to think of myself. I’ve been a good boy here and tried to do the right thing.
“My desire is to go to Atletico (where he played from 2010-14). I’ve spoken to Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia. I said, “If the manager doesn’t want me, I want to go to Atletico Madrid”.
“I have rejected other offers. They want to sell me to China or other teams. The language is better for me in Spain. If I’m off, I’m going to the club I want to go to — not the club that’s paying the most.
“Diego Simeone (Atletico manager) wants me. It is very clear. I have always had a bond with him. The fans and people love me there. They respect me.”
Chelsea, he alleges, have reduced him to the status of a ‘criminal’.
“They want me to be there training with the reserves. I wouldn’t be allowed access to the first-team dressing room and I would have no contact at all with the guys.
“I’m not a criminal! I don’t think it is fair after all I have done to be treated like that.’
Costa’s defiance has already cost him. ‘They gave me a week extra off but since then it’s fines all the way. They want me training with the reserves. I am not going to do that. I am not a criminal and I am not in the wrong here. So, if they need to fine me, let them fine me.
“I take the hit every week but I’m not driven by money. The important thing is to be happy with how I live. I’m here with my parents and people who respect me.’
Would Costa ever return or would he consider a move to another English club? ‘If I have to I will stay in Brazil,’ he says.
“I am open to being a year in Brazil without playing, even if Chelsea fine me for a year and don’t pay me. I’ll come back stronger. If I was in the wrong, I’d go back now and do as they say.
“At the start of summer, they gave me an extra week of holiday. Then a week later they called to see where I was but by then the team was in Asia on tour, so I could go back and not have any contact with the boys.
“That seems a very bad and ugly life. It doesn’t respect what I have done for the club. I am here with people who love me. I want the fans to know I still care deeply about them but I’m not going back to be separated like that.
“I want the deal with Atletico resolved this month. My idea would be to go to Madrid, train there, get in the best physical shape and be ready to fire ahead of the World Cup.”