Chelsea agree Diego Costa deal

Chelsea have announced that they've reached an agreement with Atletico Madrid for the transfer of Diego Costa. While the player has not yet been presented as a Chelsea player, it's long been rumored that an agreement for personal terms has already been reached, and that a medical examination is all that's holding up a deal at this point.

Chelsea Football Club can confirm an agreement has been reached with Atletico Madrid for the transfer of Diego Costa, with Chelsea meeting the buy-out clause for the Spanish international.

While the specific wording of the announcement indicates that Chelsea have met the £32m buy-out clause, it would appear that we avoided going to actual buy-out clause route by agreeing a fee similar to the buy-out clause with Atletico Madrid.

Atletico Madrid says that Chelsea paid "the full amount" of the buyout, rather than "Chelsea activated the buyout." £10m+ difference.

— Jake Cohen (@JakeFCohen) July 1, 2014

Costa will immediately take over as the club's number one option to lead the line, and should prove to be an absolutely massive upgrade to both Fernando Torres and Samuel Eto'o. Despite the relatively poor showing at this summer's World Cup, there is little reason to doubt that Costa won't be an effective option going forward.

With Costa and Cesc Fabregas now wrapped up, Chelsea's full attention should now be on the deeper midfield positions and the defense. It's also possible that we still see the club targeting another striker, to ensure that we never have to watch Torres flounder about the pitch again.