A report in Italy today has put an exact figure on the monstrous wage Chinese club Tianjin Quanjian are reportedly dangling in front of Chelsea forward Diego Costa.
The official line delivered by Blues manager Antonio Conte after yesterday's 3-0 win at Leicester was that the Spanish forward was left out of the squad after being unable to train since reporting a back injury this week.
It has been reported Costa's claim to have such an injury in midweek was disputed by Chelsea's medical staff and led to a row between the player and fitness coach Julio Tous, with Conte siding with his backroom team and angering the forward.
Although Costa posted a message in support of his teammates on Instagram yesterday morning, today's report, in sports newspaper La Gazetta dello Sport , said the feeling inside Chelsea is that the row is a ruse to engineer a route out of the club and a lucrative transfer.
All manner of high-profile players are being linked with moves to big-spending Chinese clubs after president Xi Jinping fired the gun on an eye-watering transfer splurge by stating his desire to make China a footballing power.
The fact Azzurri legend Fabio Cannavaro is at the helm of Quanjian may add credence to today's article which stated the Chinese club, which recently signed Axel Witsel from Zenit St Petersburg for an undisclosed fee and a reported £255,000 weekly wage, is offering Chelsea £80 million for the controversial forward.
The article goes on to put an exact figure on the weekly wage offered Costa: €658, 979 (£582,679), which adds up to €34,266,000 per year.
Everton winger Yannick Bolasie said yesterday Costa would leap at such a move as he has no strong connection to Chelsea.
