Diego Costa had looked set to be leaving Chelsea (Picture: Getty)

Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo has surprisingly suggested that his club are not close to sealing the transfer of Chelsea striker Diego Costa.

The Spain international has been strongly linked with a return to his old club for much of the summer, and was recently seen wearing an Atletico shirt after being left out of Chelsea’s pre-season squad.

Antonio Conte informed Costa at the end of last season that he was no longer in his plans, with Real Madrid front-man Alvaro Morata lined up to replace him at Stamford Bridge.

However, it may be that a deal for Costa to move to Atletico isn’t as close as reports have suggested, with Cerezo playing down any prospect of the 28-year-old joining the club this summer.

Costa has been strongly linked with a return to Atletico Madrid (Picture: Getty)

‘Costa is a Chelsea player at the moment, and you know for a long time now that we cannot sign anyone (this summer),’ Cerezo told AS. ‘This shows that pyjamas come in all different colours. Everyone can put on whichever ones they want.

‘Diego is a magnificent player, a great player, he was in Spain for many years. He has had a good spell in England, learned English, English customs. He will return to Spain someday… On holiday. Madrid is a lovely place to visit, if you have the money to enjoy it.

‘It is a long time since I spoke with him,’ he added. ‘At least a year, since he left here. I have seen him with the (Spanish) national team, but spoken to him very little.’

Costa was Chelsea’s top scorer last season (Picture: Getty)

Costa on how Conte told him he was leaving

‘I’m going to be honest, the other day, Conte sent me a message saying I am not in his plans for Chelsea, so I’ll have to find a way out.

‘I love living in Madrid, but I have to think about my future.

‘It’s complicated because I cannot go four or five months without playing. I have no preference for a league, I just want to play.’

Atletico are currently under a transfer ban until January, meaning that, while they can technically sign players this summer, they cannot register them into their squad until the middle of the season.

Still, it has been widely expected that Costa would move to the club anyway and simply train with them until the transfer ban ends.

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