Chelsea transfer news: Diego Costa speculation dismissed by Antonio Conte

Costa has been consistently linked with a return to Atletico Madrid, his former club

Costa scored 16 goals for Chelsea last season (Getty)

Antonio Conte dismissed speculation suggesting that Diego Costa could leave Chelsea on Tuesday.

Costa, 27, has been consistently linked with a return to Atletico Madrid, which led to Chelsea issuing a strong denial of all suggestions that he could leave Stamford Bridge on Tuesday.

Enrique Cerezo, Atletico’s club president, later claimed to have held discussions with Costa over a move, only to subsequently play down his comments.

Costa remains part of Conte’s plans at Stamford Bridge and speaking ahead of Wednesday’s pre-season friendly against Wolfsberger AC, the Italian underlined his desire to keep the striker.

“Diego is our player. He’s a fantastic player for me,” he said. “He is a player with fundamental importance.

“For me it’s no problem to read there is a possibility to go to another team because Diego announced he stay with us. He is working hard.

“He is very happy to work with team-mates and me in a new idea of football,” he added. “The most important thing is that Diego Costa is a Chelsea player.”

Conte went on to describe Costa as “the best in the world” and reiterated his belief that the Spain international will score goals once “he gets into this idea of football”.

Costa recovered from a difficult start to last season and finished with a total of 16 goals, four less than in his debut campaign.