Antonio Conte recently took over at Chelsea FC as the new boss and will be in charge of the Blues in the upcoming campaign and possibly the near future. The former Juventus manager will be expected to bring more titles to Stamford Bridge in the seasons to come and will want to strengthen his squad for that purpose, as soon as possible. It will not just be important to bring in the right kind of players, but retain the current stars as well.
One such player who could be all set to leave west London is Spanish international Diego Costa, who could be returning back to former club Atletico Madrid if recent reports were to be believed, though all such claims were denied.
There are a long list of clubs who want to sign him and if the Brazilian-born attacker wishes to leave, the Premier League giants will possibly have to let him go, though Conte will not like that.
In case Costa leaves, here are three potential replacements that the former champions of England can look to sign, despite completing the £33m move for Michy Batshuayi from Ligue 1 outfit Marseille:
3. Gonzalo Higuain:
The Argentine international was considering his options for the current transfer window and would be a good addition to any squad including Conte’s side, in case Costa does leave Chelsea. The 28-year-old former Real Madrid man is currently playing in the Serie A with Napoli and it was recently confirmed that he would not be leaving the Italian giants unless a fee of £78.5m would be paid for his services. It is not yet certain whether the Blues would want to pay such a huge amount, though Higuain has already proven his worth over the years.
2. Antoine Griezmann:
Another former target that the club can sign is Griezmann. The attacker has been really good last term and took Atletico to the Champions League finals. Also, he helped France reach the Euro 2016 finals as well, though he lost both, unfortunately. The 25-year-old Frenchman was linked with Chelsea not just last summer but this time around as well, though a deal has not been completed so far. If Costa leaves, the club would be eager to sign yet another attacker and who better than the former Real Sociedad man.
1. Alvaro Morata:
The best option for the Londoners would have been signing Alvaro Morata from the newly crowned champions of Europe, Real Madrid. The La Liga giants were uncertain whether they wanted to retain the Spaniard’s services. It was recently confirmed that the club had rejected Chelsea’s offer of £63m for their target and the player now seems destined to remain in Madrid. However, if the English giants are desperate to sign yet another attacker this summer, they might look to push through a deal for Morata in that case.