Diego Costa's Chelsea career was over long before the arrival of Alvaro Morata.

The first cracks started to appear in the striker's relationship with Antonio Conte in January when widespread reports suggested the pair had clashed in training.

The Blues boss effectively confirmed that in a press conference earlier this week, revealing:

“I want to tell one thing to clarify the situation because in January the situation was very clear for the club, the player, for Costa, for his agent that when we arrived in June then it would be finished."

It's now nearly August and the 28-year-old is still a Chelsea player, at least officially.

The irony is that the Spanish international first fell out with Conte after learning of interest from Chinese Super League outfit Tianjin Quanjian.

That has never materialised and it's thought that Costa is no longer keen because of the culture shock involved in a move to the Far East.

Next came rumours of a reunion with Atletico Madrid, though the Rojiblancos would have had to wait until January 2018 to formally register him.

Despite Costa's attempts to hurry that along - he even posted a video of himself wearing an Atleti shirt to Instagram stories - he is still stuck in limbo at Stamford Bridge.

Where does Costa go next? 

Fortunately, he is in the capable and very lucrative hands of Jorge Mendes.

The super-agent is on holiday in Sardinia, but he hasn't forgotten that he's supposed to be finding his client a new club.

La Gazzetta dello Sport report that Mendes has been meeting with AC Milan officials to discuss a number of players under his control.

Costa is one, while the names of Renato Sanches and Radamel Falcao were also mentioned.

Sanches had a disappointing first season at Bayern having shone at Benfica and having won the European Championships with Portugal.

As for Falcao, there have been few indications that the Monaco captain will leave the Ligue 1 champions, particularly as they have already lost Benjamin Mendy, Bernardo Silva, and Tiemoue Bakayoko this summer.

It seems Costa is a more likely acquisition, however, as Milan aim to continue what has been an excellent summer of business so far.

Leonardo Bonucci and Andre Silva are the big names to join Vincenzo Montella's staff, and Costa would not look out of place among that calibre of player.

Would Costa be a good signing for AC Milan? Have your say in the comments.