Diego Costa is no longer an Atlético player. The Spanish-Brazilian and the club have reached an agreement for the termination of his contract after the forward's request advanced by AS last Sunday to resolve personal matters.
Says goodbye to a footballer who has lived two stages at Atlético after signing at the age of 17 and who says goodbye with a total of 215 games played (83 goals and 36 assists) and the titles of Liga (2013-14), a Copa del Rey (2013), a Europa League (2018) and two European Super Cups (2010 and 2018). Especially brilliant that 2013-14 season, where he scored 36 goals, 27 of them in league competition. It was also capital to win against Real Madrid with his goal in the Cup final, where he was the top scorer of the tournament. His second stage after returning from Chelsea has been marked by injuries, although he was key in the European Super Cup too against Real Madrid with a double and in the Europa League.
This was announced by the rojiblanco team on its website, stating that “Atlético de Madrid and Diego Costa have reached an agreement to terminate the forward's contract, ending on June 30, 2021. The Spanish-Brazilian player asked the club for his dismissal for personal reasons a few days ago and signed this Tuesday the termination of his contract, leaving our entity. ” He had not trained for two days with his teammates, waiting to solve his future.
The agreement between Diego Costa and Atlético de Madrid, as AS has learned, includes that the Spanish-Brazilian striker has accepted financial compensation to the rojiblanca entity in case of going to a club that competes directly against his former team. Gil Marín, before the announcement of the termination of Costa's contractHe explained in a meeting with the squad this morning that the club was going to try to help him, but was not going to allow a direct rival of Atlético to leave if it was not through significant financial compensation. This was also made clear by Simeone to the press, explaining that “the club has managed to help him without being harmed and that gives us peace of mind. ”
Now, Costa wants to continue competing in Europe and Arsenal could offer a favorable situation, since is a historic club in the Premier League, where the tip left a very high performance with Chelsea. The gunners They are looking for a forward and the Spanish-Brazilian still has football in his boots for several years. In addition, despite the fact that Thomas' 'clause' on the last market day did not sit well in the mattress club, recently they have held negotiations such as the transfer of Torreira to wear rojiblanco. Costa is already a free player and will listen to offers before deciding his future, since he feels very well physically and thinks he has two or three full seasons left.