Premier League players are slowly starting to return to their clubs to begin a gruelling pre-season ahead of another campaign.

It’s always interesting to see which players are in attendance and which players are absent. Of course, considering this summer’s Confederations Cup and Under-21 European Championships, those players that are missing may have been given an extended break due to those tournaments.

But when Chelsea returned to training on Monday, there was no Diego Costa.

Early this summer, Antonio Conte told Costa that he was no longer needed at Stamford Bridge and was free to leave the club. It was widely believed that it would be Romelu Lukaku replacing the Spaniard, but the Belgian is set to join Manchester United.

But with Chelsea returning to training on Monday, early reports from Spanish outlet Marca suggested that Costa was refusing to return to Cobham as he tries to force through a move to Atletico Madrid.

However, that report has been cleared up by the Telegraph.

While they agree that Costa hasn't turned up to Chelsea’s first training session, they are reporting that the club have allowed him to miss pre-season as he attempts to sort out his future.

The 28-year-old is desperate to return to Atleti but with the Spanish giants banned from registering players until January, the move is complicated.

With the World Cup less than a year away, Costa knows how important it is to play a full season - something he’d be unable to do at Atletico.

Nonetheless, they’ve still offered £26 million for the 28-year-old - an offer that was rejected by Conte.

But Costa has been given extra time to negotiate a move away from the club, whether than be with Diego Simone’s side or an alternative club remains to be seen.

One thing is for sure, though, this latest report suggests that there is very little chance of Costa having a future in west London.