Chelsea have reportedly told Tianjin Quanjian that they will have to smash the world transfer record by some way to sign Diego Costa this summer.
The Spain international has been strongly linked with a move to the Chinese Super League ever since January, and it is claimed that talks are ongoing for the forward to move at the end of this season.
However, the Blues are not about to let Costa leave without a fight, and have told Tianjin that they will have to fork out a staggering £127million to sign their top scorer, according to SFR Sport.
The 28-year-old has 20 goals in all competitions this season and is regarded as one of the best players in the Premier League, though his goals have dried up of late.
Still, Chelsea are understandably keen not to let him go, despite long-standing links to other big-name attacking players such as Romelu Lukaku and Andrea Belotti.
Costa has been a big hit since joining Chelsea back in 2014, and his form at the start of this season played a major part in their rise to the top of the table under Antonio Conte.
If the former Atletico Madrid man were to move for £127million, he would be by far the most expensive footballer of all time, smashing the current record price of £89million that Paul Pogba joined Manchester United for last year.
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