Turkish footballing giants Fenerbahce are “far away” from securing an 11th-hour loan deal for wantaway Chelsea striker Diego Costa, the club has today confirmed.
Mainstream Turkish media reports had earlier suggested that the 28-year-old was due in Istanbul for a medical ahead of the transfer window closing in the country on Friday, but Fenerbahce manager Aykut Kocaman has now poured cold water over the reports. In an interview with Goal, he said: “We were really close to signing Diego Costa but now we seem far away.”
“The talks between the two clubs were going really well. But here we are.”
Despite scoring 20 goals in 35 Premier League outings last season, as the Blues stormed to their sixth league title, Costa fell out with Blues boss Antonio Conte and attempting to push through a lucrative move to the Chinese Super League. The tumultuous relationship between the two has deteriorated further in recent months, with the 48-year-old telling the fiery Spanish international that he would not be figuring in his plans for the 2017/18 season. Consequently, Costa has been attempting to engineer a swift move away from the side whose success he has been so instrumental towards in recent years, with a war of words playing out through the media on both sides.
Likely to remain a Blue… for now
Training away from Chelsea’s first-team squad, the forward was widely expected to transfer to former hunting ground Atletico Madrid – despite the side being banned from signing players until January – but the deal collapsed late on transfer deadline day last week amid legal wranglings. Potential loan moves to AC Milan, AS Monaco and Everton were also eventually scuppered.
Some morning reports today suggested Costa was also being courted by Fenerbahce’s Super Lig rivals Besiktas, but with the 28-year-old currently believed to be in his native Brazil, it seems he will remain a Blue – at least technically – until the January transfer window.
Header image: “Diego Costa / Диего Коста” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Aleksandr Osipov
