Spanish newspaper Marca reveals today that Diego Costa has rebelled against Atletico Madrid after his teammate Antoine Griezmann got a pay raise from the club.
According to the report, the former Chelsea striker has considered an ‘immediate exit’ from the Colchoneros if they don’t offer him a new contract as well.
Costa is friends with Griezmann, and didn’t have a problem with the Frenchman becoming the best paid star in the club. The issue is just quite how big the salary is.
When Costa left Chelsea, the move was framed as him returning to a club he loved, and money was never thought to be a motivation, but it seems his pride has been hurt.
Marca claims the Brazilian makes €8m per season at Atleti, while Griezmann’s new contract is worth €20m a year. So all Costa wants is the difference to be decreased.
This happened some weeks ago, with Costa knowing that clubs from Qatar and China would happy to give him a good salary.
Costa’s temper got the better of him, and it’s thought he’s calmed down somewhat.
With such efforts from the player to leave Chelsea for Atleti, the Colchoneros didn’t expect Costa to behave like that, and are hoping it was just an angry moment he had.