Atletico Madrid table final Costa offer

Is an end to the saga of Diego Costa’s long-mooted move back to Atletico Madrid finally in sight?

Marca reports that there soon will be an answer either way, saying Atletico have tabled a “final offer” of £57 million plus add-ons for the Chelsea striker.

The newspaper says there had even “been hope that the forward would have been present at the opening of the new Wanda Metropolitano stadium on Saturday, when an announcement could have been made.”

Costa has been absent from Chelsea since the start of the season and has made it clear that returning to Atleti is his only aim.

But Marca says no agreement for a January move has yet been reached, “with the London club playing hardball in response to the striker’s behaviour.”

It stresses that Atleti “are desperate to re-sign Costa and are making an offer that would represent far and away the club’s biggest-ever transfer market operation.”