Boring, boring Chelsea. Just keep winning (well, Spurs loss aside), keep working, keep on keeping on. No big drama, no ridiculous transfer decisions, even the youth get a few minutes here and there these days.
This affront to narrative clearly won’t stand, so here’s Sami Mokbel of the Daily Mail to throw the flashbomb.
Chelsea boss Antonio Conte and Diego Costa row over fitness https://t.co/mf5ZbQZKEk
— Lynn Hamer (@evilbluebird) January 13, 2017
A BLAZING ROW!
a blazing row sounds extremely lit
— Graham MacAree (@MacAree) January 13, 2017
Mokbel’s claiming an EXCLUSIVE on this, and it all sounds rather unbelievable.
The story goes a little something like this. Diego Costa may or may not have a slight back injury (wouldn’t be the first time for Diego to have a minor knock). Costa says he’s fine, the Chelsea medical staff say he isn’t. Conte’s backing his physios, much to Costa’s chagrin. There’s been an argument. Nay, a BLAZING ROW.
The End. Bye-bye Costa. Just like that.
So that’s indeed something. Conte did hint at a possible injury or two in his pre-match press conference, so if Costa is indeed not traveling to Leicester because of a back injury, then that all fits. But to think that his future at Chelsea’s hinging on this issue?
I mean, come on... how incredibly stupid would everyone in this situation have to be for this issue to blow up into an actual BLAZING ROW?
But just before we dismiss all of this out of hand, here’s noted Chelsea insider Matt Law with his version.
Chelsea drop Diego Costa after bust-up with Antonio Conte #CFC https://t.co/9QblRxsg1x
— Telegraph Football (@TeleFootball) January 13, 2017
This, slightly de-sensationalized version of events doesn’t make for great reading either, as apparently Costa has been training on his own for the past three days following the disagreement over the injury between him and fitness coaches Julio Tous and Paolo Bertelli. Apparently everyone in this situation can be rather excitable (we know this with Costa for sure obviously), but that doesn’t rule out the possibility of cooler heads prevailing in the end (just as in the supposed bust-up between Costa and Conte earlier this season).
Law’s report also claims that Costa has been dropped for tomorrow’s game, and with big money offers from China lurking in the background, there could be doubt over his future at the club (though Abramovich is “thought to be adamant” about not selling). Surely, given the recent very public displays of affection between Costa and Conte during and after games, we’re not about to sabotage our season in such a silly way.
Stay tuned...