Chelsea striker Diego Costa has ruled out a lucrative move to a Chinese club because it would jeopardise his chances of playing in next year’s World Cup.
Chinese Super League club Tianjin Quanjian have been heavily linked with Diego Costa since the beginning of this year.
After losing the FA Cup final to Arsenal despite scoring his team’s goal, Costa told DIRECTVSports that former club Atletico Madrid were the only team he would leave for.
“If the club wants to sell me, there’s one club I’d move to,” he was quoted as saying, agreeing that it was Atletico, who he left three years ago to join Chelsea.
“I will remain [at Chelsea] if there is intention from the club and the coach for me to stay, but if they want to sell me to bring in another striker, I will go.”
“People talk too much, people talk about China but there’s a World Cup coming up and if I go to China I won’t have the chance of going to it.”
Costa played two games for Brazil in 2013 but switched his allegiance to Spain a year later after being granted Spanish citizenship and represented them at the 2014 World Cup.