Diego Costa has been the unanimous player of the season so far as he has focused on his football and hit 14 league goals to help Chelsea to top spot in the Premier League, but reports have emerged that his Chelsea future could soon be over.
The Spaniard has been widely praised for his return to form having come up big for Antonio Conte in several tricky situations, but reports have emerged today that the relationship between manager and star striker has broken down over a row that was sparked by a fitness issue.
The Daily Mail have broken the news that Costa did not travel to Leicester for this weekend's match:
Chelsea striker Diego Costa’s future has been thrown into doubt following a blazing row with Antonio Conte over his fitness.
The Spain international has not travelled with the rest of the squad ahead of Saturday's Premier League clash against champions Leicester.
And his future with the league leaders is now under a considerable cloud after an argument with boss Conte over an injury. Costa believes he is suffering from a lower back problem, which could be linked to his history of hamstring injuries.
But members of the Blues medical team are not convinced by Costa’s complaints and Conte has subsequently backed his staff. The disagreement has led to a falling out between Costa, Conte and club physios with the striker not backing trusting their methods.
Well, that escalated quickly.
It has to be taken with a pinch of salt for now, until we here something concrete from the clubs, especially as the Mail continued to reveal that Costa's representatives were already in China to work out a deal.
Indeed, Sportsmail understands representatives for the striker are in China looking for potential offers for Costa with a view to a lucrative switch to the Far East.
If Diego Costa, the top scorer in a team on top of the Premier League, goes to China in the January transfer window, I think we can all agree that the game is well and truly "gone".
It does certainly seem that Costa will not be playing any part against Leicester, but we will wait and see whether or not his relationship with Conte is beyond repair, as it all seems a bit out-of-the-blue at the moment.
