ANTONIO Conte is fighting to keep Diego Costa at Chelsea.
SunSport can reveal that Conte has personally pleaded with the club’s top brass to come up with a deal which will see the striker remain at Stamford Bridge.
The Italian coach believes Costa to be “irreplaceable” as he faces up to the dual challenge for domestic and Champions League honours next term.
An offer of around £60million for the 28-year-old to move to Chinese club has been on the table since January.
And we revealed last month that an improved contract offer at Chelsea of £220,000 per week remains unsigned. It is understood a £300,000-a-week offer would get the deal done.
With the increased influence of having won his maiden Premier League title, Conte has insisted that his top striker is essential to his team going forward.
During talks with the club hierarchy Conte pointed out that it would cost in excess of £50m to buy a similar standard striker.
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And even then, he has cited Costa’s unique ability to score regularly while also leading the line with aggression as well as making a major all round contribution to the team.
Chelsea have been considering bringing Romelu Lukaku back to the club but have baulked at Everton’s £100m valuataion.
Sunsport pictured Costa in a London restaurant with Chinese businessmen apparently discussing an imminent move to the China Super League.
However, we understand that a move for Borussia Dortmund's Pierre Emerick Augbameyang is now the preferred option for Tianjin Quanjian.
Discussions on Costa's future with his agent, Jorge Mendes, are scheduled to take place after next weekend's FA Cup final.
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