Diego Costa holding up Lukaku move?

Premier League holders Chelsea are having a tough time offloading striker Diego Costa with the Spaniard not keen on a move to the Chinese Super League.

The Spain international is not in the plans of Antonio Conte, and the manager had hoped to sell the 28-year-old in order to gain funds for the signing of Everton's Romelu Lukaku.

However, The Mirror suggests Costa will not be leaving Stamford Bridge in the near future as he is angling towards a move to former club Atletico Madrid.

Atleti are currently under a transfer ban until January 2018, and Costa is prepared to wait for his opportunity rather than joining another club this summer.

In previous times, Barcelona were allowed to sign players for future participation under the transfer embargo, but the Court of Arbitration of Sport have prevented such an instance from happening with Atleti.

As a result, Costa is willing to stick with the Premier League holders until next year despite knowing that his playing time could be far-fetched.

Chelsea have made only one signing in goalkeeper Willy Caballero although Monaco midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko is on the cusp of a Chelsea transfer.