Diego Costa named in Chelsea squad, despite major fall out with Antonio Conte

Premier League Champions Chelsea have named ‘rebel’ Diego Costa in their English Premier League squad despite the Spaniard trying to push through a transfer to former side Atletico Madrid.

Chelsea forward Diego Costa has not returned to training at all in the new Premier League season, with the relationship between the big striker and the Chelsea boss having broken down.

Costa fell out with the Italian tactician over a proposed transfer to a Chinese Super League side in January and was subsequently left on the bench for League match against Leicester City.

Antonio Conte later reintegrated the striker, who helped fire the Blues to the English Premier League title, only for the Brazil-born striker to effectively go AWOL at the end of the season after claiming Conte sent him a text message suggesting he was no longer needed at the club.

Costa has made public his desire to return to La Liga side Atletico Madrid, but with his former team under a transfer embargo until January, a return to Spain looks to have been blocked.

The West London club broke their transfer record to sign Spain international Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid, but Belgian Michy Batshuayi – the striker who scored their title-winning goal back in May – is the only other striker left at the club.