Chelsea might have landed themselves in a major transfer headache with Diego Costa revealing the shocking news that manager Antonio Conte doesn’t see him in his future plans.

The fact that he could be making an exit isn’t the big surprise, though, as the Spanish forward has long been linked with a return to Atletico Madrid while rumours intensified throughout the season that he could be making a mega-money move to the Chinese Super League with Tianjin Quanjian interest in his services.

TEXT MESSAGE

The fact that he dumped his star striker by text is what’s baffling everyone.

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The Daily Mail is now claiming that Costa’s decision to go public on the private exchange has left the Chelsea board stunned as the club now finds itself in a position where they could be set to lose millions.

With everything that has been going on, it’s clear that there’s perhaps no way back for Costa and an exit in the summer is all but guaranteed, but the Blues now know they have no choice but to accept a lower fee for Costa as they are now desperate to sell.

Firstly, clubs such as AC Milan, who are reportedly interested in Costa, are looking to pay around £40 million to bring him to the San Siro.

LOSING MILLIONS

In comparison to that, Tianjin Quanjian offered around £76 million when it was assumed that he was edging closer to an exit from Stamford Bridge after the January transfer window – meaning Chelsea could have cashed-in at that point and made well over £30 million more than what they could be making now.

At the same time, Conte’s side are linked with several big-money strikers ranging from Everton’s Romelu Lukaku, Real Madrid’s Alvaro Morata and Torino’s Andrea Belotti, and it seems unlikely that they will budge from their stance and will want to rinse as much as possible from them as they're not under pressure.

Not only that, but Conte’s unofficial text message could come back to haunt the club even more as it can now be used as evidence to secure a massive loyalty bonus.

The fact Conte went rogue means Costa’s representatives can demand a hefty sum as they now have solid proof that his exit from the club was instigated, and it wasn’t him seeking the exit.

The Italian has shown a no-nonsense approach since arriving in London last year, and this is just another signal that he’s laying down a marker that he’s in charge and no player is bigger than the club.

The situation he now finds himself in, though, is that Costa will seek an exit, while they’re not close to bringing in a replacement.

What do you make of the recent text message saga between Antonio Conte and Diego Costa? Have YOUR say in the comments section below.

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