Atletico Madrid captain Gabi has called on the club replace flop former striker Jackson Martinez with Chelsea’s Diego Costa, according to reports.
Martinez has just left the club for China, signing for Guangzhou Evergrande for £31.7m.
He was only at Atletico since the summer, enduring a nightmare Spanish spell. He only scored three goals in 22 games.
And Gabi, for one, criticised Martinez, whle admitting he would welcome Costa to the club with open arms.
“Bringing (Costa) back wouldn’t be a bad thing,” Gabi told Radio Marca. “Jackson Martinez’s way of working didn’t suit the team.”
Costa may take the chance to return to his former club, who he left in 2014 after scoring 54 goals in 114 Atletico appearances.
Chelsea appear certain to miss out on Champions League qualification after a difficult defence to their title.
They are in thirteenth place in the table going into this weekend, seventeen points adrift from fourth place, held by Manchester City.
By Steve Osborne