Diego Costa has turned down the chance to remain in England, and he is convinced he will be playing for Atletico Madrid in January.

I understand a number of Premier League clubs, amongst them Merseyside duo Liverpool and Everton, have told Chelsea and Costa, they would be keen on a deal in January.

Whilst Chelsea would entertain a deal, knowing they could recoup a big fee from any Premier League rival – the player has made it clear he would not accept a deal.

Football INDEX Watch – Diego Costa – £2.08…We have not heard the last of Costa, he is a very good buy still

Sources close to the player are adamant that he is happy not to play for Chelsea again and does not see a future in England, following a difficult summer which have seen both sides exchanging claims of bad behaviour.

As it stands the 28-year-old is AWOL – refusing to return to Chelsea, with the club holding out some hope he may have been able to play for them again before leaving when the transfer window reopens in January and with that in mind they included him in their Premier League squad.

Costa has made it known all summer he wanted to join Atletico when he leaves Chelsea, but he could not move during the last window due to their transfer ban – which is now lifted, meaning he can sign for them at anytime but he can’t be registered until January.

Talks are ongoing but Atletico are currently way off Chelsea asking price of near £50million – and the Spaniards believe that come December they won’t have to pay more than £30million for him.

Despite the stand-off, the player believes that he will next be in action with Atletico – as he is not amazingly keen on playing elsewhere on-loan – although some Asian clubs are reportedly keen on doing a loan deal, which could yet happen.

But as it stands, Costa will be signing for Atletico – it is just a matter of when rather than if, and Bookmakers are in total agreement – he is odds-on across the boards to join the Spanish club.

Ladbrokes currently rate him 1/8 to make the move and their spokesman Alex Apati underlined their thinking.

He told TheGamblingTimes.com: “It’s taken a while, but it looks as though Costa has finally sealed his dream return to Atleti, but the race will be on for the forward to prove himself good enough for Spain’s World Cup squad.”

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