Thibaut Courtois: Diego Costa transfer rumours "not nice"

Diego Costa of Chelsea celebrates with teammates after scoring during his side's Premier League clash with Southampton at St Mary's on October 30, 2016
© SilverHub
Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois believes that reports linking Diego Costa with the Stamford Bridge exit have an ulterior motive.

Thibaut Courtois has suggested that recent rumours surrounding Diego Costa's future are being used to "destabilise" Chelsea's bid for the Premier League title.

The Blues were rocked last week when news emerged of a supposed training-ground bust-up between the Spain international and a member of the club's backroom staff.

Costa has reportedly grown unhappy at Stamford Bridge following links to the Chinese Super League, where he would likely become the world's highest-paid player, but boss Antonio Conte has already insisted that there is little truth to the recent reports.

Courtois has now echoed his manager's thoughts, telling Sky Sports News: "He has trained very well this week. Obviously it was not a nice rumour that went around that he had a fight or anything. He had an injury and couldn't train and obviously if you are not 100% fit and you feel you cannot play it's logic that you don't train with the team.

"This week he could train again and he trained very well, so he might play on Sunday. He looks very committed, we cannot doubt that about Diego. You can see that in all games he plays.

"Nobody in this team doubted it, so when the day before the game against Leicester that came out it was a bit of a surprise to the players but it didn't affect us in any way because we know what's the truth. The rest is maybe just trying to destabilise Chelsea, but we don't let it."

Costa is said to be valued at £130m by Chelsea, who are understood to be hopeful of keeping their star striker in place until at least the end of the campaign.

Diego Costa mouths off during the Premier League game between Chelsea and Manchester United on February 7, 2016
Read Next:
Chelsea set £130m asking price for Costa?
>


Tables
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Chelsea22181347153255
2Arsenal22145350232747
3Tottenham HotspurSpurs22137245162946
4Liverpool22136351272445
5Manchester CityMan City22134543281543
6Manchester UnitedMan Utd22118333211241
7Everton22106633231036
8West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom229583028232
9Stoke CityStoke227782834-628
10West Ham UnitedWest Ham2284102936-728
11Southampton227692226-427
12Bournemouth2275103239-726
13Burnley2282122433-926
14Watford2266102538-1324
15Leicester CityLeicester2256112437-1321
16Middlesbrough2248101825-720
17Swansea CitySwansea2253142651-2518
18Crystal Palace2244143041-1116
19Hull City2244142047-2716
20Sunderland2243152042-2215
LIVE SCORES VIDEPRINTER
expand