He didn’t mention the name of the – still – Chelsea player, but what Miguel Angel Gil Martin, Atletico Madrid’s chief executive, told the club’s official website, can be seen as a clear sign that something good for the Rojiblancos is going on, regarding Diego Costa.
The ban of registering players this summer market affects us in that the two players that we wanted to hire, because there were only two, will have to join us with five months of delay
the Atletico chief said. The club have already secured the services of Vitolo, paying Sevilla his release clause of €36 million, and arranging with Las Palmas to ‘host’ the player until January, when Atletico will again be able to register new players, unhindered by the ban currently in place.
As for who the second player the club wanted to sign this summer is, it’s no secret that it’s Diego Costa, or at least he is now, after Atletico’s agreement with Lyon over Alexandre Lacazette was canceled, once the club realized that the previously imposed ban wouldn’t be scrapped.
Costa himself has said that if he is to leave Chelsea (which will definitely happen this summer), he will leave only for one country (Spain), and for one team (Atletico). He has even implied he would be willing to wait until January to join his former club.