Chelsea’s hopes of finding a quick and easy resolution to Antonio Conte’s decision to dump Diego Costa by text have been hit by AC Milan’s reluctance to meet the striker’s current wage demands.

Costa’s agent Jorge Mendes met with AC Milan officials on Thursday, less than 24 hours after the 28-year-old revealed Conte had sent him a message to say he was no longer part of Chelsea’s plans.

But Costa is demanding over £200,000-a-week to move to Italy, more than AC Milan are willing to pay.

The Serie A club are also lukewarm on the idea of a loan deal, as they want their star summer signing to join permanently.

A solution could yet be found as AC Milan are keen on Costa, but they are also chasing Torino striker Andrea Belotti and Fiorentina's Nikola Kalinic, whose wage demands they could meet.

Chelsea would ideally like to avoid a summer saga over Costa developing and could yet be forced to subsidise his wages at another club. But Atletico Madrid’s transfer ban, which is in place until January, has made a deal difficult to negotiate.