Diego Costa should return to Chelsea as soon as possible if he wants to make a move away from the club happen, according to Andy Townsend and Ian Wright.
News broke yesterday after the striker gave an exclusive interview to the Daily Mail, saying he would go on strike for a whole year to seal a move away from Stamford Bridge.
Costa is currently in his home country of Brazil, but Townsend says he should go back to Chelsea to train and better his chances of sealing a move away, as well as being fit for action at a new club.
“As a player, if he wanted to get under Conte’s skin and get out of the club, he should have come back. He should be here with a big smile on his face every day,” the former Blues midfielder told The Debate.
“Conte looks like the type of man that thinks ‘if you get in the way of what I really want to do every day, you are going to bug me and annoy me’. And I’d be knocking on the owner’s door asking him to take the problem away.”
“But sitting in Brazil, he’s not a problem to Conte. If a move happens tomorrow, are you telling me he’s in the best shape to turn up at a new club and start playing? Of course he’s not.”
“I think the player has done this wrong. Forget the text, so what if he was hurt by it? He should have come back, he should get himself ready to go but he should make it absolutely clear to Conte that he doesn’t want to stay and play for him.”
“If he said that, I’m sure things would start moving a bit quicker. All of this bravado from the other side of the world isn’t getting him anywhere quick. Do your work, do your training, pick your wages up, appear to be a good pro on the face of it and be ready for selection but you can make it loud and clear in other ways that your time is done.”
“The communication here has got so lost along the line. To be champions one minute and when there is a dearth of fantastic No 9’s around the world, he is one of them. As an asset, Chelsea are losing millions on this guy. It defies any logic really.”
Townsend’s comments were backed by former Arsenal striker Ian Wright. The pundit said Costa has shown ‘terrible professionalism’ by choosing to stay in Brazil and should go about the situation in a different way.
“He should be back at Chelsea training. It says in his contract that you have to be there fit and ready if selected whatever happens,” he said.
“I don’t know if somewhere along the line, that’s gone out of the window with players because as soon as they don’t want to be there, they go on strike. He’s still in Brazil and the season has started and he’s not fit. He should have reported back for pre-season and it is terrible professionalism.”
“I think that the vibe I get off of it is that Conte is delighted that he’s not in and around the place. Costa should have read the situation properly and thought ‘if I’m around, it’s going to irk him even more’. I feel like that’s the scenario Costa should have gone down.”
“I get the impression from Conte that if Costa’s around [the club] and he’s in [Conte’s] face, that’s going to be a problem and that’s what Costa should be doing. Him and his agents have read it wrong.”
[Quotes sourced via Sky Sports]