Former Chelsea striker Diego Costa has said that he is not to blame for the bad exit he made from Chelsea. The relationship between Conte and Costa grew bitter soon after Chelsea lifted their first Premier League crown under the Italian gaffer.
Conte made himself very clear that he did not see Diego Costa in his Chelsea blueprint. However, what seems to have disheartened the Spaniard the most was the fact that all this happened via a text message at the time he was with his national team.
The striker was soon excluded from training with the first-team and although he was named in the Premier League squad, he was left out for the Champions League campaign. Costa eventually joined Atletico Madrid but couldn’t feature for them until January as the club were serving a transfer ban.
So with the striker not getting enough game time this season (only 14 appearances), he was left out of the Spanish national team for friendlies against Germany and Argentina.
Talking about his exclusion, Costa has said that it is not his fault that he has had very little action this season. As quoted by the Evening Standard, the striker said,
“It is very clear that it was not my fault that I was in Brazil. We all know what happened there but I’m back now and I want to do my best.
“The coach (Julen Lopetegui) was always very clear with me that if I was not playing then it would be impossible for me to be called up.
“But he also said that if I was playing well then the door would be open to me and I’m grateful to him for that.”
As a replacement for Diego Costa, Chelsea settled with Alvaro Morata and although the Spaniard started his new life with a bang, his form eventually saw a major dip as the season progressed. Morata has only scored one goal since the turn of the year and that was enough for Julen Lopetegui to not to pick him for the friendlies. Costa, however, is confident that Morata will be back in the first-team soon.
“I miss Morata because we get on well,” Costa added.
“Competition is always good. Morata has been having a bad time there but he is back now scoring goals and I hope he comes back with us and we can play together.”
Do you think it was a mistake on Conte’s part to let Costa leave?
