Atletico Madrid Chelsea forward still a serious target for Los Colchoneros

Even though the summer transfer window has now closed, Atletico Madrid continue to pursue Diego Costa with the club's final offer for the Spanish forward totaling 65 million euros, 55 million up front with a further 10 million euros in bonus payments.

Ahead of the opening of Wanda Metropolitano on Saturday, there was hope from those familiar with negotiations at Los Rojiblancos that the Chelsea forward would be present and that an announcement on a deal could be made.

98 days without playing... and growing

Unfortunately no such agreement has been reached with the London club still playing hard-ball as a direct response to the former Rayo Vallecano striker's behaviour.

Make no mistake, Atleti are desperate to re-sign Costa and are making an offer that would far and away represent the club's biggest ever market operation.

Los Colchoneros feel their final offer of 55 million + 10 million euros is more than fair, especially considering the fact that Antonio Conte has made it publicly now that he doesn't see last season's top scorer as a player he can count on.

As a result, Costa is a valueless asset to the Stamford Bridge club in sporting terms, yet from an economic perspective the club has to consider what the going rate would be in the current market for a 20 goal a season striker.

Atletico continue to await a response to their offer, although it is believed to be an issue regarding loyalty payments which are holding up the deal.

Chelsea do not want to pay the Spaniard what he would be owed if a transfer should occur, which roughly works out to 5% of any initial transfer fee.

5% of 55 million works out at roughly 2.75 million euros and the Spanish club are simply unwilling to take this on given the fact they are paying such a heavy transfer fee initially.

Once this issue is sorted out, it seems set that Costa will be an Atletico Madrid player once more with a January arrival set in stone.

It is 98 days since the 28-year-old last played competitive football, he has absolutely no match rhythm to speak of.

He has been training and working with a personal trainer whilst AWOL in Brazil, yet this is no replacement for playing football at the highest level.

Even once an agreement has been reached, Costa cannot be registered until January and will likely be forced to work on his fitness in Madrid.

Once the aforementioned deal is complete, Atletico will eclipse the fees paid for Falcao, Jackson Martinez and Antoine Griezmann in order to bring Costa back to the club in the winter.