Chelsea outcast Diego Costa ruled out joining Milan and cranked up his feud with Antonio Conte. “He is distant and doesn’t possess charisma.”

The striker has been linked with a move to the Rossoneri after he was told that Chelsea no longer required his services, but is adamant he’ll only go to his old club Atletico Madrid.

“My desire is to go to Atletico. I've spoken to Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia. I said, ‘If the manager doesn't want me, I want to go to Atletico Madrid’.

Chelsea outcast Diego Costa ruled out joining Milan and cranked up his feud with Antonio Conte. “He is distant and doesn’t possess charisma.”

The striker has been linked with a move to the Rossoneri after he was told that Chelsea no longer required his services, but is adamant he’ll only go to his old club Atletico Madrid.

“My desire is to go to Atletico. I've spoken to Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia. I said, ‘If the manager doesn't want me, I want to go to Atletico Madrid’.

“I have rejected other offers. They want to sell me to China or other teams. The language is better for me in Spain. If I'm off, I'm going to the club I want to go to — not the club that's paying the most,” Costa told Sportmail.

“Diego Simeone wants me. It is very clear. I have always had a bond with him. The fans and people love me there. They respect me.

“Chelsea 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. I'm not a criminal! I don't think it is fair after all I have done to be treated like that.

“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.”

The forward is considering legal action against Chelsea, as former Italy boss Conte famously told him to find another club via a terse text message.

“You know that the manager doesn't want me. I am waiting for Chelsea to set me free. I didn't want to leave. I was happy. When the manager does not want you, you have to go.”

The situation went downhill in January following a training ground incident with the fitness staff.

“In January, things happened with the Coach. I was on the brink of renewing my contract and they put the brakes on it. I suspect the manager was behind it. He asked for that to happen.

“His ideas are very fixed and clear. I have seen the sort of person he is. He has his own opinion and that will not change.

“I respect him as a great Coach. He has done a good job and I can see that, but as a person, no. He is not a Coach who is very close with his players. He is very distant. He doesn't possess charisma.

“The text message — I understand it when a Coach wants a different player, but there are ways of going about it. You don't do it by text message. You should be honest and direct to someone's face.

“I was with the Spain national team, alone in my room, when it came through. It was a shock to get it like that. I was showing it to my team-mates and they could not believe how he had done it.

“I was angry at the time. Now I am more calm. I have not deleted the message. If people accuse me of lying, I can show them. It was clear, saying that he didn't count on me and wishing me the best for the future. Full stop.

“There was no conversation or talks. Conte has his mentality. He thinks it's the best way of working. He arrived from an Italian league where everyone is very serious and arrived in a dressing room where there are maybe more jokes.

“Conte is a great Coach. He deserves to be where he is but it's his opinion. He has his reasons.”

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