Diego Costa: Antonio Conte was furious with me about this at Chelsea

Diego Costa has revealed that Antonio Conte was furious with him when the Chelsea boss first arrived at the club – because the striker wanted to return to Atletico Madrid.

The Spanish forward was keen on a move back to Spain when Conte first arrived at the club last summer and Costa admits that the Italian was less than pleased to learn about his plans.

However, after a move back to Spain failed to materialise, Costa was forced to apologise to Conte as he looked to establish himself in the Chelsea team this season.

Costa has been a key part of Chelsea’s title challenge this season and has scored 17 goals and made five assists to help the Blues build a 10-point lead at the top of the table.

And the Spanish forward has lifted the lid on how things unfolded between him and Conte at the start of the season.

Costa told Spanish radio station El Larguero: “The relationship with Conte did not start well because on [his] arrival I told him that I wanted to go to Atletico.

“He got angry with me, almost didn’t looked at me; I would have done the same.

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“When Atletico did not wait for me I went with the tail between my legs to talk to Conte.”