Diego Costa: Besiktas attempt short-term loan ahead of Atleti move
Besiktas could act as a 'bridge' for Diego Costa until January 2018, as he tries to engineer a transfer from Chelsea to former-club Atlético Madrid.
Diego Costa could take a detour via Turkey on his return to Atlético Madrid. Besiktas have put themselves forward as a temporary destination for the striker as he looks to engineer a move from Chelsea to Atlético.
Besiktas confident of signing Costa on loan
AS understands that Besiktas are confident of landing Costa on loan until January 2018, at which point he will reunite with Diego Simeone at Los Rojiblancos. Atlético are unable to sign players until then as a result of a FIFA-imposed transfer ban.
Besiktas have already secured a transfer coup by signing Pepe from Real Madrid. The Portuguese defender is represented by Jorge Mendes, who also counts Diego Costa among his clients.
Supporters of the Istanbul club have launched a social media campaign in an attempt to impress Costa. The Brazilian-Spanish striker has been inundated with messages urging him to ‘Come to Besiktas’. He recently uploaded a picture to Instagram alongside Santos player Araujos, which attracted two million ‘Come to Besiktas’ comments.
Besiktas know that Diego Costa wants to return to Atlético, and that ‘El Cholo’ Simeone is desperate to sign him, and that is why they are attempting to pull off a short-term loan. At least, that is the theory in the Turkish newspapers, which also consider Jorge Mendes to have a key role as Costa’s agent: he could be the one to convince the player to spend a few months in Turkey.
Champions League and wages are obstacles
Despite the optimism, there are two significant hurdles to the deal going through.
The first is the Champions League. Besiktas have qualified for the competition, but would not be able to register Costa for it, to ensure that he would be eligible to play in the competition for Atlético in January.
The second obstacle is Costa’s wage. He currently earns €8m per year at Chelsea, a figure far beyond Besiktas’ financial capability.
