Diego Costa asked to leave the Spanish club for personal reasons a few days ago |Getty Images
Spanish giants Atlético de Madrid have announced that the club and Diego Costa have reached an agreement for the termination of the striker’s contract.
The former Chelsea bad-boy’s deal with Athletico was due to expire in June next year but now he will be a free agent in January after asking the Spanish giants to terminate his contract early due to personal reasons.
Costa who is still convinced that he can still compete at the top in Europe for around two to three seasons is understood to have instructed Atletico to terminate his contract which had just six months to run after falling down the pecking order under Diego Simeone.
The Spain international who has played 215 matches over two spells for the Madrid based club, was given permission to miss training on Monday as he sought to leave the club over ‘personal reasons’.
“Atlético de Madrid and Diego Costa have reached an agreement for the termination of the striker’s contract, which was to end on June 30, 2021. The striker asked to leave the club for personal reasons a few days ago and on Tuesday signed the termination of his contract”
“The club thanks Diego Costa for his dedication during these years and wishes him well in the next stage of his professional career.”
Part of the club statement
The Brazilian born striker joined Atletico in 2006 at the age of 17 and between 2010 and 2014, he scored 43 goals in 94 appearances and also started in their 2014 Champions League extra-time defeat to Real Madrid in Lisbon before joining Chelsea FC.
Costa scored 59 goals in 120 games for the blues and won the Premier League twice in his three years at the club but his spell at the London based outfit ended in acrimony after the then manager Antonio Conte told him via text message that he was not part of his plans for the following campaign and as a result, Costa refused to return to Chelsea from his home in Brazil after being told to train with the reserves.
The striker rejoined Atletico, the club where he made his name as La Liga’s top scorer in their 2013-14 title winning season and managed 19 goals in 81 games in his latest spell.
The 32-year-old Brazilian-born forward, who has been capped 24 times by Spain after twice appearing in friendlies for the country of his birth,leaves Atlético with an overall record of 83 goals in 215 appearances for the Spanish side, winning LaLiga (2013-14),Copa del Rey (2013) Europa League (2018) and UEFA Super Cups (2010 and 2018).
Wolves, Arsenal and Juventus are thought to be among the clubs who will be keen to snap up the veteran striker when the window opens on Friday.
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