Chelsea players urging Diego Costa to turn down £30m-a-year China offer

CHELSEA survived a China crisis last night involving Diego Costa – and insist their unhappy striker IS staying at Stamford Bridge. The Premi...

CHELSEA survived a China crisis last night involving Diego Costa – and insist their unhappy striker IS staying at Stamford Bridge.

The Premier League leaders opened up a seven-point gap at the top of the table with an emphatic win at Leicester, despite being without axed leading scorer Costa.

But the Daily Star Sunday can reveal that senior Chelsea players are already talking to Costa, urging him to calm down, stay with the club and not jeopardise their title bid.

We can also reveal that Chelsea are convinced the main problem with Costa is strong interest from Chinese club Tianjin Quanjian, rather than the bust-up with the club’s fitness department last week.

The Blues striker, represented by influential agent Jorge Mendes, is believed to have been offered £30million a year after tax to move to the Chinese Super League.

Chelsea insiders believe that has affected his attitude, leading to a spat with fitness coaches which saw boss Antonio Conte axe him for last night’s match.

But Chelsea have no intention of selling such a key player as they fight to regain the title.

They will try this week to resolve the issue but insist Costa will be made to honour a contract which has more than two years to run.

Conte said of Costa’s absence last night: “Diego stopped his training on Tuesday because he felt a pain in his back, for this reason he was not available. This is the truth.

“I don’t know anything about an offer from China, no.”