Atlético Madrid announced today that they had reached an agreement with Diego Costa to terminate the player's contract with the club. The 32-year-old asked to leave the club a few days ago for personal reasons.
This ends the striker's third stint at the club he returned to in September 2017 and Atlético have publicly thanked Costa for his commitment to the club, using Twitter to say: "The club thanks Diego Costa for his dedication during these years and wishes him well in the next stage of his professional career."
Atlético's agreement with the Brazilian-born player was reached after the club agreed to reduce the 25€ million compensation Costa would have to pay if he signed for one of Atlético Madrid's direct rivals in La Liga or the Champions League, like Sevilla or Barcelona, for example. In the end, this figure has been reduced to 15€ million and Diego Costa is now a free agent.
Costa was La Liga's top scorer in the 2013-2014 season, winning the title with them, but 2020 has not been a year to remember for the striker. Barely a month has gone by without some sort of drama. The beginning of the year saw him sidelined from the pitch for two months because of a hernia, and he has ended the year with venous thrombosis, a side effect of the Covid-19 infection he also suffered. He has fallen out of favour with the club and since mid-October has only made three appearances, all as a substitute.
Costa's departure from Atlético could signal a return to the Premiership. Both Arsenal and Wolves had been linked with the striker, who won two Premier League titles during his three-year stint with Chelsea.
Costa has both Brazilian and Spanish citizenship. He played twice for Brazil in 2013, before declaring his desire to represent Spain, having been granted Spanish citizenship in September that year. He made his debut for Spain in March 2014 and has since won 24 caps and scored 10 goals, representing them at the 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cups.
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