Chelsea are in talks with Atletico Madrid to sell rebel striker Diego Costa for £41m.

Atletico have stepped up negotiations with Chelsea over the past few days and both clubs look ready to put an end to a troublesome saga.

Costa has been AWOL in Brazil for the past six weeks and has ignored Chelsea's instructions to return to training.

The 28-year-old has complained about his treatment by the west London side claiming coach Antonio Conte first told him he was no longer wanted via a text message in June.

Conte insisted Costa was informed in January that he would be sold in the summer and signed Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid as his replacement last month.

Atletico, who can't register any new players until January due to a FIFA ban, had hoped to capitalise on the situation to buy for a lower price.

The La Liga club sold the Spain international to Chelsea for £32m in 2014, but had been prepared to pay only £26m up until recently.

However, Chelsea have been demanding £50m and Atletico are finally ready to make a higher bid.

The players on Chelsea’s transfer shortlist 16 show all The players on Chelsea’s transfer shortlist 1/16 The players on Chelsea's wishlist... Lindsey Parnaby/AFP/Getty Images 2/16 Alexis Sanchez | Arsenal Arsenal FC via Getty Images 3/16 Alex Sandro | Juventus Getty Images 4/16 Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain | Arsenal Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images 5/16 Ross Barkley | Everton Getty Images 6/16 Djibril Sidibe | AS Monaco AFP/Getty Images 7/16 Virgil van Dijk | Southampton Getty Images 8/16 Adama Traore | Middlesbrough 9/16 Cedric Soares | Southampton Getty Images 10/16 Ryan Bertrand | Southampton Ian Walton/Getty Images 11/16 Mousa Dembele | Celtic Getty Images 12/16 Fernando Llorente | Swansea Getty Images 13/16 Marco Verratti | PSG AFP/Getty Images 14/16 Faouzi Ghoulam | Napoli Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images 15/16 Danny Drinkwater | Leicester City Getty Images 16/16 Renato Sanches | Bayern Munich Bongarts/Getty Images 1/16 The players on Chelsea's wishlist... Lindsey Parnaby/AFP/Getty Images 2/16 Alexis Sanchez | Arsenal Arsenal FC via Getty Images 3/16 Alex Sandro | Juventus Getty Images 4/16 Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain | Arsenal Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images 5/16 Ross Barkley | Everton Getty Images 6/16 Djibril Sidibe | AS Monaco AFP/Getty Images 7/16 Virgil van Dijk | Southampton Getty Images 8/16 Adama Traore | Middlesbrough 9/16 Cedric Soares | Southampton Getty Images 10/16 Ryan Bertrand | Southampton Ian Walton/Getty Images 11/16 Mousa Dembele | Celtic Getty Images 12/16 Fernando Llorente | Swansea Getty Images 13/16 Marco Verratti | PSG AFP/Getty Images 14/16 Faouzi Ghoulam | Napoli Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images 15/16 Danny Drinkwater | Leicester City Getty Images 16/16 Renato Sanches | Bayern Munich Bongarts/Getty Images

Atletico star Koke hopes Costa will soon be his team-mate, saying: "We all want Diego Costa to come, but the situation is complicated.

"If Diego comes, he will help us and he already knows a lot of us at the club so for us it would be very exciting."

As Standard Sport revealed last week, they face competition from Marseille and Monaco, but Costa has made it clear he only wants a switch to Atletico.

Both Ligue 1 clubs might be an option for Costa to play on loan until January, when he would be able to officially start playing for Diego Simeone's side in Spain.

Everton have also emerged as a contender, although the striker has consistently made it clear that he doesn't want to remain in England.