Diego Costa insists there is no bad blood with Antonio Conte

As Diego Costa prepares a return to Atletico Madrid, he has come on record to rubbish claims of strong animosity between him and Conte.

Costa's problems with Chelsea, which started during the middle of last season, was well documented by the media. 

It started from February when a reported training ground bust-up between the pair led to Costa being dropped for the match against Leicester City in the Premier League. 

Despite returning to the first-team just two weeks later, animosity between the pair was believed to be extremely strong.

It all started to come to a boil after the FA Cup final, where Chelsea lost to Arsenal 2-1. Diego Costa suggested in the post-match interview that he could leave the club for a return to Atletico.

There was a back-and-forth between the pair as Costa returned for international duty in the World Cup qualifiers. Costa claimed that Conte sent him a text message saying he didn't need the forward anymore. He also claimed that Conte had been mistreating him for some time. Conte literally laughed it off and rubbished it in an interview before the start of the season.

Costa has not featured at all for Chelsea this season and has finally clinched a move back to Atletico in January for a fee of £50 million. 

However, despite all the problems Conte and Costa faced, the forward has rubbished them and say their relationship is fine. Speaking to Sky Sports reporters who asked him about Conte's mistreatment, Costa was quoted saying: "There's nothing of the sort there, I'm not upset with anybody, I have no bitterness towards anyone. Everything is cool."