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Diego Costa: 'I will not fight for Chelsea place'

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 12 June 2017

Chelsea striker Diego Costa does not believe that he would be given a fair chance by manager Antonio Conte if he stayed to fight for his place at the club.

Chelsea striker Diego Costa has admitted that he has no option but to leave the club this summer as he does not believe that he would be given a fair chance to fight for his place.

Costa revealed last week that Chelsea boss Antonio Conte had informed him that he no longer has a future at Stamford Bridge, despite scoring 26 goals in 46 games to help fire the Blues to the Premier League title last season.

The 28-year-old has already ruled out the possibility of moving to the Chinese Super League, but he confirmed that he still has a number of teams interested in his signature.

"Things don't work like that. The fight for a place has to be fair. When there is a fair fight you stay and fight but if there isn't then you have to go," he told reporters.

"You need to ask Conte what has happened, he's the coach and if he has the option of signing someone else and doesn't want to have problems with a senior player then that's normal.

"But there are ways of saying things, ways of doing things. Thanks to God I'm not lacking teams [to join]. If Chelsea don't want me I will choose the best option for me."

Costa has scored 58 goals in 119 appearances for Chelsea since joining from Atletico Madrid in 2014.