Diego Costa frozen out at Chelsea as Conte plans a new spree

London: Chelsea are considering a personal fitness regime for Diego Costa as the striker’s departure from the Premier League champions edges closer.

Costa’s career at Stamford Bridge is over and Antonio Conte, the head coach, has already told the Spain forward he will not be permitted to train with Chelsea’s first team at their Cobham base.

Costa has yet to return for pre-season training but, with Atletico Madrid and AC Milan hopeful of signing him this summer, Chelsea are prepared to send the 28-year-old on a special training programme until a deal is agreed.

Costa has been training alone in Brazil and Chelsea want to ensure he is fully fit to speed up the chances of a move away.

Atletico failed with an initial bid of £26 million (Dh126.3 million) last month but are keen to take their former player back to the Spanish capital, even though they are operating under a transfer ban until January.

AC Milan are interested in a permanent deal for Costa and Chelsea remain confident of agreeing a significant fee for last season’s leading scorer, despite his spectacular fallout with Conte and the club’s hierarchy.

Conte admitted during Chelsea’s tour of Asia that he decided to axe the striker in January after running out of patience as Costa pushed for a move to the lucrative Chinese Super League club Tianjin Quanjian.

It is also understood that Costa asked to leave Chelsea on three separate occasions last season and the club are determined to offload him quickly to avoid any more potential flare-ups.

Chelsea’s squad returned to training Wednesday after being given a few days off following their return from Singapore over the weekend. Chelsea are more focused on recruitment, having allowed midfielder Nemanja Matic to leave for Manchester United, with Conte hopeful of up to four more signings before the transfer window closes on August 31. Conte has already spent around £130 million on Alvaro Morata, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Antonio Rudiger but has made it clear that he still wants reinforcements. Juventus left-back Alex Sandro is a priority target, while Leicester’s Danny Drinkwater has now been added to Chelsea’s wishlist as they look to increase their quota of British players.

Leicester insist Drinkwater is not for sale, but he has joined Arsenal’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Everton’s Ross Barkley as another potential English recruit.

Chelsea are hopeful of making another signing before Sunday’s Community Shield game against Arsenal at Wembley.

Meanwhile, Kenedy has been given an extension by the Football Association after being asked for his observations on his incendiary remarks during Chelsea’s stay in Beijing. Kenedy, 21, posted two inappropriate messages on Instagram, which sparked widespread outrage in China, leading to huge embarrassment to the club.

He was subsequently ordered home from the tour and was pictured training alone in Cobham Tuesday. The FA has granted the Brazilian an extension until Thursday for his response, before deciding whether to pursue disciplinary action.