Atletico Madrid could agree to sell Diego Costa to Chelsea today, with the money received being spent on Alvaro Negredo.
AS claim that Atletico and Chelsea are speaking this morning and the deal should be concluded, with Romelu Lukaku possibly moving in the opposite direction.
But Atletico are in the market for two strikers, having also let David Villa go, and Negredo, out of favour at Manchester City, is high on the wanted list.
City insist on a fee of €28m, however, the same amount they paid Sevilla 12 months ago, and so Atletico need the Costa money before they can sign the Spain international.
Negredo didn’t play a full 90 minutes for City after March and lost his place to Edin Dzeko, with Vicente del Bosque following Manuel Pellegrini’s lead and leaving Negredo out of the squad for the World Cup.
Atletico are also thinking of Thibaut Courtois, the Chelsea goalkeeper who has spent the last three years on loan at Vicente Calderon.
Courtois could yet return for a fourth year and is said to want to leave Chelsea if he’s going to be second fiddle to Petr Cech.
Cech could leave Chelsea but it’s not certain as his stature at the club complicates an exit, AS say.
