Chelsea’s Brazilian-born Spanish striker Diego Costa is a target for Tianjin Quanjian. (Picture: Getty)

Shu Yuhui, the owner of Chinese Super League team Tianjin Quanjian, has confirmed that the club have made an approach to sign Chelsea striker Diego Costa.

Yuhui also confirmed that the club had reached informal agreements to sign the likes of Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema, PSG hitman Edinson Cavani and former Manchester United and Chelsea forward Radamel Falcao which subsequently fell through.

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Desperate to find a goalscorer, Tianjin have been scuppered by the Chinese Football Association’s decision to change league rules to limit the amount of foreign players Super League clubs are allowed to bring in.

‘Our club had a massive investment plan for the new season but it was tightened up by the new rules,’ Yuhui told Tianjin Sports Channel.


Fabio Cannavaro is the head coach of Tianjin Quanjian. (Picture: Getty)

In their quest to recruit a big name, Yuhui revealed that he held a meeting with Costa’s agent Jorge Mendes but was told that Chelsea would only allow their Spanish international striker to leave the club in the summer as opposed to a January switch.



‘I made an appointment with Mendes and he came to my hometown to visit me. At that time, we were interested in signing Costa,’ he added.

‘PSG told us Cavani would only be allowed to leave in June, even though the player himself was willing to join us. The same can be said for Costa because Chelsea would only let him leave in June. However, the new season of CSL will almost reach the halfway stage in June, we can’t wait so long.’

Diego Costa’s agent Jorge Mendes met with the owner of Tianjin Quanjian. (Picture: Getty)

Belgian international Axel Witsel recently signed for Tianjin Quanjian. (Picture: Getty)

Setting their sights high, Tianjin, who are managed by former Real Madrid defender Fabio Cannavaro, contacted France international Benzema in regards to a high-profile departure from European football.

‘We need an out-and-out striker so we made a bid for Benzema. We also made an attempt for Falcao,’ he added.

‘As a matter of fact, the club had even prepared the contracts for Falcao and [Benfica striker] Raul Jimenez. We had already reached agreement with them on wages and bonus. The pair were expected to sign the contracts, but the new rules forced us to give up on them.’

Real Madrid’s French forward Karim Benzema is also a target of the CSL team. (Picture: Getty)

Monaco’s Colombian forward Radamel Falcao apparently spoke to Tianjin Quanjian. (Picture: Getty)

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