Friday 21 July 2017 23:43, UK
Antonio Conte says that Diego Costa’s situation at Chelsea was "very clear" for both the club and the player in January.
The 28-year-old has not travelled with the Blues squad for their pre-season tour of Asia and is reported to be keen on a return to Atletico Madrid, although the Spanish club are currently banned from registering players until January 2018.
Costa was left out of Chelsea's squad which travelled to Leicester in January last season amid speculation over a big-money move to China and disagreements over his recovery from a back problem, but returned the following week and went on to help Chelsea lift the Premier League title.
However, while on international duty with Spain in June, Costa said he received a text from Conte which explained that he had no future at Stamford Bridge but the Italian says the striker was aware of the situation long before the summer.
"I don't to like to talk about players that don't stay here, but the only thing I can tell you (is) in January, the Costa situation was very clear, for the club, for him and his agent," the Chelsea boss said.
"For me the situation is closed."
Chelsea have completed the signing of Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid for a fee that could rise to £70m.
Conte believes the 24-year-old - who scored 20 goals for the Spanish side last season as Real won both La Liga and the Champions League - can bring something different to the Chelsea frontline.
"We have added a fantastic striker, even at a young age he has won a lot already and we are looking forward to welcoming him to the squad," Conte said.
"I think for sure this is a good signing for us. He is a young player, but has a lot of experience, he went to Juventus and Real Madrid. He has a lot of experience and I think this is a good sign for us."
