Diego Costa’s Chelsea career is dead in the water.

For all his cavaliering goal scoring exploits, three years tailed by controversy have finally caught up on the Spaniard. It seems Antonio Conte is not quite as tolerant as his predecessors.

Reports of Costa’s impending departure are nothing new and many will be surprised he didn’t jump ship in January. A training ground bust-up had looked to force a move to China, notably Tianjin Quanjian.

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A Premier League title win and a FA Cup final strike later, though, and opinion of the 28-year-old certainly hasn’t improved. Conte is believed to have told Costa over text that he was no longer in his plans.

The arrival of Alvaro Morata seems to be the final nail in the coffin. The Blues forked out no less than £68 million for the Real Madrid man in what seems a case of out with the old and in with the new.

But what next for Costa? The most frequented rumour has always been a return to Atletico Madrid, the club for which he scored 64 goals in 135 appearances between 2010 and 2014.

However, the situation is complicated by Atletico’s transfer ban that cripples their ability to bring in new stars until January. Manchester United know this all too well after it seemingly played on the heartstrings of Antoine Griezmann.

It’s put something of a spanner in the works and it’s hard to imagine Costa would be too keen on collecting cobwebs on the sidelines until the New Year. It has opened the door for other clubs to scramble for his signature.

Leading the way in rivaling Atletico – AC Milan.

The Rossoneri are spending big this summer under their new owners and could eye Costa as the next step in their €175 million spending splurge. After all, the club has even secured talks with his agent.

AC chairman – Marco Fassone – told Sky Sports: "I would prefer to avoid talking about players from other teams; Diego Costa is a great player, but a Chelsea player.

"We went to see Jorge Mendes; there is a lot you can talk to him about. Costa is a great player but he is of Chelsea. That's all."

Very interesting. Milan certainly have the financial brawn to attract Chelsea and the striker in question can have no doubts of the club’s ambition.

The deal could come in the form of a six month loan with a view to Costa then joining Atletico in January or could prove a straight-up permanent purchase. It’s imagined that Milan’s chances of success would rise greatly if they opted for the former.

As far as Chelsea and Conte are concerned, though, it’s hard to seem them proving too fussy.

Do you think Chelsea are right to sell Costa this summer? Let us know by leaving a comment below.