Chelsea make offer for highly-rated Atletico Madrid star

Chelsea open their pre-season programme against Arsenal in Beijing on 22 July before travelling to Singapore for games against Bayern Munich and Inter Milan.

While his Blues teammates are navigating a gruelling schedule of double training sessions at Cobham, Costa has remained in Lagarto - the small town where he was born and raised and where he is adored as a hero - keeping fans updated on his activities with regular videos on his Instagram account.

In the mean time, Costa is seemingly intent on burning all of his bridges at Chelsea - which probably isn't the most mature manner in which to go about business. In January it nearly pushed him for a transfer to Chinese side Tianjin Quanjian, but he finished out the year and helped the Blues secure the Premier League title.

Costa, who was told to find a new club by manager Antonio Conte shortly after the end of their title-winning 2016/17 season, had already made clear his wish to return to his former club in the Spanish capital. The problem, however, is Atleti are struck with a transfer ban until this upcoming January.

Their No1 target was Romelu Lukaku, but the Belgium worldwide instead opted to swap Everton for Jose Mourinho's Manchester United instead.

China military conducts live-fire drill in Tibet
A border dispute between China and India has been escalating in recent weeks, and analysts claim that there is no resolution in sight.

Some have stated AC Milan has shown interest in Costa, but the Spaniard's heart may be set on a return to Atletico.

Chelsea completed their third signing of the summer on Saturday when they finally announced a deal to land Tiemoue Bakayoko from Monaco, following the arrivals of Antonio Rudiger and Willy Caballero.

Signs point to his next destination being in Italy, where he may join the Serie A champions Juventus.

Chelsea have so far endured a mixed transfer window.