TheCable

Chelsea outcast Diego Costa says the north London club is treating him like a “criminal”.

The 28-year-old spent the off-season in Brazil after being notified by Chelsea boss Antonio Conte that he had no future at Stamford Bridge

Conte informed Costa he was not part of his plans via a text message, and the striker says he will never delete the message.

“I’m not a criminal! I don’t think it is fair after all I have done to be treated like that,” Costa told Daily Mail UK.

“They want me training with the reserves. I am not going to do that. I am not a criminal and I am not in the wrong here.

“They want me to be there training with the reserves. I wouldn’t be allowed access to the first-team dressing room and I would have no contact at all with the guys.

“At the start of summer, they gave me an extra week of holiday. Then a week later they called to see where I was but by then the team was in Asia on tour, so I could go back and not have any contact with the boys.

“They gave me a week extra off but since then it’s fines all the way. That seems a very bad and ugly life. It doesn’t respect what I have done for the club. I am here with people who love me.

“I want the fans to know I still care deeply about them but I’m not going back to be separated like that. So, if they need to fine me, let them fine me.

“I take the hit every week but I’m not driven by money. The important thing is to be happy with how I live. I’m here with my parents and people who respect me.

“If I have to I will stay in Brazil. I am open to being a year in Brazil without playing, even if Chelsea fine me for a year and don’t pay me.

“I’ll come back stronger. If I was in the wrong, I’d go back now and do as they say.”

Costa scored 21 goals in his first season at the club as Chelsea won both the English Premier League and the EFL Cup.