Chelsea ‘close’ to Diego Costa extension as Atlético Madrid beckon with ‘doors open’

“I could be leaving” is the latest word from Diego Costa.

But he also could be staying, as he categorically declared after the FA Cup final.

The decision seems to be resting with Chelsea, and according to the latest rumors, that decision will turn into a contract extension.

In fairness to Di Marzio’s English proxy, he’s been saying this since the weekend, so it may not be a new development in the strictest sense, but it does add another log to the slowly growing bonfire built of Costa’s exit papers.

Incidentally, as that once-supposed certainty goes up in smoke, that means we’ve now come full circle on Costa, from November’s reports that he (and Courtois) are open to a new extension after a summer’s worth of exit rumors (which, in Costa’s case, were actually backed up by real events), to January’s almost departure, to the end of season flipping and flopping.

It’s not quite clear whether this is actually Chelsea’s preferred plan of action, but with Costa limiting himself to either Chelsea or Atlético and the latter only willing to cough up £20m, Chelsea’s choice to keep him is the obvious one. Offering an extension on top of that could mean we’re happy with him staying, or we’re simply looking to ensure that his value stays high for that inevitable return to Spain at some point. Either way, Atlético’s “open door” is nothing more than a fallback desperation option at the moment.

“The doors are open here for Diego Costa.”

-Juan Vizcaino, Atlético assistant; source: Cadena SER via Football España

The only door that’s not open for Costa, the one he closed seemingly of his own accord, is the door to China. So Chelsea it is, unless something unexpected happens again ... though given the way this saga has unfolded over the last 12+ months, I wouldn’t bet against that happening.

Stay tuned.