Costa close to Chelsea switch

Chelsea are closing in on the signing of Atletico Madrid’s Diego Costa, according to the Mail Online.

The Blues have met the striker’s £32m buy-out clause, and the La Liga champions are ready to finalise the deal with an eye on themselves negotiating a deal for Alvaro Negredo of Manchester City.

Costa won his fifth and sixth caps for Spain in their World Cup defeats to the Netherlands and Chile at the World Cup in Brazil this summer, but he fared much better at club level last season.

The 25 year old scored thirty-six goals in all competitions for Diego Simeone’s side, who clinched their first domestic title in eighteen years on the final day of the campaign with a 1-1 draw with Barcelona.

Chelsea meanwhile ended a season without any silverware for only the third time in ten years, and they can be backed at 15/8 to win the league next May.