Conte thanks Costa: ‘I’ll never forget we won together’

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has thanked Atletico Madrid bound Diego Costa for his contribution at Chelsea over the last three years.

Costa has scored 52 goals in his three years at Stamford Bridge, helping the Blues to two Premier League titles.

However, at the end of last season, the striker received a text message of his manager saying he was no long needed at Chelsea.

That action was the beginning of an ugly summer-long feud that has finally ended with a fee being agreed for Costa to return to Atletico in January.

Ahead of the completion of the big-money deal, Conte said of Costa: ‘We want to thank him for the work he did with this club, and we wish him all the best for the future.

‘We want to thank him for the work he did with this club, and we wish him all the best for the future.

‘I repeat that now, I’m not interested to talk about the past. I think the past is not important, for every coach and player the past stays there.

‘If you did well in the past, it’s OK, but we have to work for the present and the future to build something important for this club.’