Arsenal
Arsenal + Chelsea Confirm They’ll Pay Strikers Release Clause But Moyes Also Keen
Arsenal and Chelsea have made it clear they will meet a strikers €38m release clause while Man Utd have also joined the race. Find out who the player is here.
The January transfer window may have slammed shut but clubs will still be working hard behind the scenes at identifying targets for the summer, so we’ll bring you all the latest news, gossip and rumours. Today, more on the future of Diego Costa.
Long-term admirers Arsenal and Chelsea have made it clear to Atletico Madrid they are willing to meet Diego Costa’s €38m release clause while Manchester United are also understood to have joined the race for his signature, according to reports in Spain today.
Costa has become one of the most desired strikers in the world after a stunning season with Atletico that’s seen him score an incredible 27 goals in just 36 appearances so far, with his goals helping Diego Simone’s side challenge for the La Liga title and be on the verge of reaching the quarter finals of the Champions League.
His impressive form has attracted interest from throughout Europe, most notably from England where Arsenal and Chelsea have been strongly linked with the 25-year-old over the past 12 months.
Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho are now ready to step up their interest with Spanish media outlet Sport claiming that the two clubs have already made it clear to Atletico they are willing to pay Costa’s €38m (£32m) release clause and bids are expected to be tabled this summer.
However, it seems the London duo will face stiff competition from Manchester United with the newspaper suggesting that David Moyes has also told the La Liga outfit that they too are ready to pay the buy-out fee at the end of the season.
Arsenal could do with another option up front with the club currently heavily reliant on Olivier Giroud, and a player of Costa’s quality would certainly go down well with the Emirates faithful, who have been waiting for a world class striker to arrive since the departure of Robin van Persie in 2012.
Chelsea are also expected to be busy in the market with Mourinho already hinting he’ll bring in a top quality striker this summer and the Blues could hold the trump card if they decide to use on-loan goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois as bait to land Costa.
Of the three, United perhaps need a striker the least as Moyes already has Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie, Danny Welbeck and Javier Hernandez to call upon, so if they do bring Costa in you’d expect at least one of that quartet to depart Old Trafford this summer. Although it won’t be Rooney as he’s recently signed a new long-term contract at the club.
Of course there is still the possibility that Costa may decide to remain with Atletico and the clubs president was quoted at the weekend as saying he thinks the striker will snub a move to England to remain in Spain to aid his chances of becoming a regular in the Spanish national team.
However, it remains to be seen if that’s going to be the case and it looks like it’s going to be an interesting summer with Costa at the centre of a three-way battle between three of the Premier League biggest clubs, and Atletico face a real fight to keep their star man at the Vicente Calderon.
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