Chelsea extended their lead at the top of the English Premier League to eight points on Sunday when recalled striker Diego Costa set them on their way to a 2-0 home win over struggling Hull City.
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Diego Costa will again feature in numerous headlines after the Spain worldwide returned to the starting line-up after missing the routine victory at Leicester City with either a back strain or having been dropped after becoming unsettled courtesy of big money offers from China. “I hope with this game to finish the speculation about him, about Chelsea, about me and him”. There is no doubt Conte considers him an important player, and he was quick to show his appreciation for Fabregas at the end of the match.
The Spanish forward moved to Chelsea from Atletico Madrid in a £32m deal in 2014.
Ballack believes that Conte is the ideal manager to handle Costa.
“Honestly, I was very happy to see his celebration because I was celebrating the goal on the bench”. Is he planning to stay with Chelsea – or is he still planning to head to China? But, I repeat, I don’t see any problem with Diego and his contract.
“Today we had the pressure to win and to exploit this weekend”, Conte added. “The Premier League is probably the best, the strongest, more competitive [than what I experienced at Barcelona] and for me it would be a dream to win this title”. We are in the second part of the season and the points now are heavy for us.
Chelsea have already benefited from some Chinese generosity in the form of the £60mil Shanghai SIPG paid for Brazilian midfielder Oscar. But you can also use toughness. He’s adapting to the club really well, and players like [Eden] Hazard and Pedro are playing different football to what they were past year – they’re on a different level.
“(It was a) good performance, but I want more from my team”.
“When we were unbeaten in the league, some clubs came, double and triple whatever salary, and I stayed”.
Compare this to the previous game between these two sides, the one in which Conte first switched to the 3-4-3 system that has defined this season and started Chelsea’s brilliant run. Went close to his second on the second half as well, but was denied by a few wonderful stops from Jakupovic between the Hull sticks.
Hull boss Marco Silva declined to comment on the decision. “I was quite calm the whole game, more than usual”.
“You must tell me if I did well to put Diego in the starting XI”. Now, we have an eight-point lead and there are 16 games to play. It’s not a bad performance for us.
The remainder of the first half had a slightly odd air. “If we make mistakes, yes they make mistakes but also it’s myself who has to explain better”.
The speculation about Costa is unlikely to vanish overnight, but Conte said he was more anxious about preserving Chelsea’s position in the table than worrying about his striker’s long-term future. Of course I could carry on two or three years and I had offers from Australia and America but I feel a bit frustrated if I play in a lower league.
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“Pedro, for sure now is a really important player for us”.
