Trouble at Chelsea, but Besiktas could ease Costa dilemma
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They may be reigning Premier League champions, but there’s little doubt that all is not well at Chelsea.
The Blues have missed out on Romelu Lukaku, and they are yet to sell Diego Costa.
But the latter could find a solution in the coming weeks.
Costa’s dilemma is largely based on Atletico Madrid’s transfer ban. The La Liga outfit can sign players, but they cannot play for the Rojiblancos until January.
And in a World Cup year, that is putting a lot of players off a move to the Spanish capital.
But Atletico can sign players this summer and then loan them elsewhere for the first half of the season.
And that’s where Besiktas come in.
It’s reported by AS that the Turkish club believe they could be the ones to take Costa off Atletico’s hands for the opening months of the campaign, and offer him that all-important first-team football at a suitable level.
The Turkish side won last season’s Super Lig for the second time in succession.
They boast a strong squad, featuring the likes of Ricardo Quaresma and Ryan Babel, while they’ve also convinced Real Madrid stalwart Pepe to join the club this summer.
Three Brazilians in the squad should also help Brazil-born Costa settle in should he head to Turkey.
The only potential issue for Besiktas, is that Costa is highly unlikely to feature for them in the Champions League.
Do that, and he’ll be ineligible for Atletico should they reach the latter stages upon his return in 2018.
As for the odds, well our traders are keeping Atletico as 1/4 firm favourites to be Costa’s next permanent destination.
A move to China remains an option, but at 6/1 it seems increasingly unlikely now.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
