Transfer talk: ‘Diego Costa is our player,’ warns Antonio Conte as Atletico Madrid linked with Chelsea striker

Meanwhile Napoli have cooled talks of Gonzalo Higuain’s reported move to Juventus and stated no club wants to pay the US$105m (Dh385.6m) buyout clause in the Argentine star’s contract.

Chelsea striker during the team's 2-0 defeat to Rapid Vienna in Austria during a pre-season friendly. Lisi Niesner / EPA

Chelsea

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte said that striker Diego Costa will stay at the club despite a series of reports in the Spanish media linking him with a return to Atletico Madrid.

Costa, 27, has scored 36 goals in over 70 appearances for the Premier League side but netted just 12 times last season as the club finished 10th in the table.

Costa joined Chelsea from Atletico in 2014 after spending six years over two spells with the Spanish club.

“Diego Costa is our player,” Conte told reporters Tuesday. “He’s a fantastic player with fundamental importance. He’s very happy and is working hard.”

Winger Juan Cuadrado was shipped out on loan to Juventus last season and scored five goals in 40 appearances to help the Italian side to the league and cup double, and Conte said he was willing to give the Colombia international a chance to prove himself at Stamford Bridge.

“Cuadrado is Chelsea’s player. I like him,” Conte, 46, said during the club’s pre-season training camp in Austria. “He arrived today and this afternoon he starts to train with us.”

Conte will begin his tenure in England with a London derby against West Ham United at Stamford Bridge on August 15.

See also

• Team Talk podcast: Who else will join Antonio Conte's Chelsea revolution? – Ep 27

• Report: Juventus to shatter transfer record to sign Gonzalo Higuain signing

Napoli

Napoli have cooled talks of Gonzalo Higuain's reported move to Juventus and stated no club wants to pay the US$105m (Dh385.6m) buyout clause in the Argentine star's contract.

After Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis and Juventus chief executive Giuseppe Marotta failed to reach any agreement during preliminary talks on the striker on Monday, De Laurentiis said Tuesday the buyout clause in Higuain's contract, which expires in 2018, could see last season's Serie A top scorer kick off the new season at the San Paolo stadium.

“No club wants to pay the buyout clause,” De Laurentiis told the club’s radio station Kiss Kiss. “He will not be going to Juventus and so will remain at Napoli.

“I raised the amount of the clause because I don’t want to sell. He has a long contract and I won’t concede.

“When he returns to [the club’s pre-season training complex] Dimaro on July 25, I will tell him ‘welcome back’.”

However, Italian media reported Juve’s pursuit of Higuain is far from over and could be determined by Paul Pogba’s possible move to Manchester United.

The Italian sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport suggested Juve are waiting to offload star midfielder Pogba, who reports said could join United for $137.7m, before making their next move.

Despite helping Napoli to second place behind Juve last season, Higuain is reportedly keen to move to Turin because of the club’s raised profile among Europe’s elite after several years on the sidelines.

The 28-year-old Argentine joined Napoli for $44m from Real Madrid in 2013 and has gone on to become one of the most consistent strikers in Italy’s top flight. He hit a stunning 36 goals last season to break Gunnar Nordahl’s 66-year-old record of 35 goals for AC Milan in a 20-team season, achieved in 1950.

At Juventus, Higuain would join up with fellow Argentina international striker Paulo Dybala to form a formidable duo that would likely strike fear into the hearts of Serie A defences before a ball is even kicked.

Dybala finished Serie A’s second-highest scorer with 19 goals last season.

Dybala also followed Higuain on the social media platform Instagram last weekend, fuelling speculation the Napoli striker is set to quit the southern club two years before his contract expires.

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