'I was wrong going to Chelsea – I knew what to do after they told me to go with reserves'

Two larger than life characters - Diego Costa and Antonio Conte - came together to win a Premier League title in the manager's first season at Chelsea, but their relationship rapidly deteriorated

There are dozens of reasons why Diego Costa is still loved at Stamford Bridge by the Chelsea faithful.

From 2014 to 2017, there was never a dull moment when the Brazilian-born striker took to the field for the Blues. He scored goals for fun, roughed up opponents (even biting Gareth Barry on one occasion), and played an integral role in two Premier League-winning seasons.

The second of those title wins came in his final season in west London amid growing tensions between the maverick No. 19 and his manager, Antonio Conte, as the Spain international became increasingly interested in leaving. He was Chelsea’s top scorer that season with 20 league goals in 35 appearances, but a bitter row between the pair saw him exiled from the squad in the summer of 2017, before re-joining his beloved former club Atletico Madrid.

A year after his departure, in September 2018, Costa admitted he should not have joined Chelsea in the first place, pointing to Conte’s abrasive management style. He told Marca: "I was wrong going to Chelsea, because of their way of dealing with things. Cholo [Atletico coach Diego Simeone] is a direct coach, and when he doesn't love you, it's clear and he shows it.

"At Chelsea it was the opposite. I had the option of returning to Atleti and when Chelsea told me to go back to training with the reserves, I was clear that I was going back to Atletico, even though there were other offers.”

Problems between Costa and Chelsea first surfaced in early 2017 when he was left out of the side for an away match at Leicester, despite being their best player with 14 Premier League goals until that point. That was down to a dispute with a fitness coach about how to handle his back pain, with frustrations spilling over into a furious row with Conte.

In the background, reports stated Costa - then in his third season with the Blues and already a Premier League champion - had received an offer from China that would have been worth £30million a year. At the time, Chelsea said they had no intention of selling him, but Costa was unsettled by a move to the Chinese Super League which would have made him the second best-paid footballer in the world behind Carlos Tevez.

Hostilities between Conte and Costa came to a dramatic crescendo in June 2017, when the manager told the Spain international he was free to move to another team via text message. Costa, then 28, claimed the Italian had texted the players wishing them a good holiday and telling them to stay fit.

Costa replied in a jokey manner and was sent a very serious message in response by Conte, who wrote: “Hi Diego, I hope you are well. Thanks for the season we spent together. Good luck for the next year but you are not in my plan.” The striker showed his team-mates the exchange, saying: "My relationship with the coach has been bad this season. It is a shame, I have already forwarded the message to Chelsea people to decide."

He later admitted it was a “moment of madness” and called the text message “disrespectful”. Costa said: “I always asked to speak face to face with the coach or board. I never sent them text messages so it shows what kind of person he is. If something makes me sad about this situation, it’s the fans as they’d always supported me.”

Costa, who turns 36 years old today (Monday, October 7) finally sealed his move to Atletico in September 2017, three years after his £32m transfer from the Spanish giants. He claimed Chelsea had treated him like a “criminal”, keeping him at Stamford Bridge against his will by demanding an absurd transfer fee.

He left Chelsea with 58 goals in 120 appearances for the club, while Conte was sacked in July 2018 in his own bitter circumstances. Conte has since spoken about the feud, suggesting in 2020 that Costa’s interest in leaving the club during the season is what resulted in their fractured relationship.

Conte, now manager of Napoli, told The Telegraph: “First of all, I am a person that doesn’t want to speak badly about a situation with a player from a club that I trained. It’s right always to keep good memories and I prefer to keep good memories also about Diego Costa because we won together a league title in an incredible season.

“But, for sure, the truth, we know the truth. The player, his agent, the club and I. We know how many times he asked to go away to Atletico Madrid at the start of the season, during the season to go to China, and at the end of the season to join, again, Atletico Madrid.

“This is the truth and, honestly, in my career I want to have players who are concentrated on my team and not to consider my team a second choice. My team must be the first choice.

“It was an incredible season and I managed, together with the club, the Diego Costa situation in the best possible way. But, in the end, the truth was only that the player wanted to leave many times to Atletico Madrid and during the season to go to China because he wanted the best contract.”

Costa’s comments two years later, when he returned to face Chelsea as a Wolves player, showed there was no love lost between the pair. He refused to name Conte in an interview, saying: “I've never had a problem with the fans. My problem was not with the crowd, it was with that coach. I left in bad terms with that manager, I left a champion for the second time, and he didn't count on me.

"That was nothing I could do. I had to leave. Today showed that I did not leave on bad terms with the fans. It's very special. It's the feeling that in the time that you spent here, you did good work and left good memories. Chelsea fans always treated me very well. I was always surprised by the way they treated me. It's satisfying.”

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