Diego Costa flies to Madrid with his entourage to complete £57.2m transfer from Chelsea

Diego Costa says he harbours no ill feeling towards Chelsea or their coach Antonio Conte as he flies to Madrid to complete a £57.2m move to Atletico.

Costa boarded a flight from Aracajú in Brazil with his brother, Jair, and a few close friends on Thursday and is expected to arrive in the Spanish capital on Friday to finalise the deal.

Chelsea confirmed on Thursday that they had agreed a fee with Atletico and that the switch is now only dependent on the striker passing a medical and agreeing personal terms.

It has put an end to a lengthy saga this summer which started in June when Costa claimed that Conte had said he was no longer wanted via text – the Chelsea coach insisted the player knew he would be sold back in January.

The Spain international refused to return to training despite being fined by the Blues and has been AWOL in Brazil for the past two months. His lawyer has threatened to take legal action and Costa even accused Chelsea of treating him “like a criminal”.

But when asked if he was upset over the way he’s been treated by Conte, Costa said: “There’s nothing of the sort there, I’m not upset with anybody, I have no bitterness towards anyone. Everything is cool.”

The 28-year-old was worshipped by the majority of Chelsea supporters having scored 52 league goals in three seasons, which helped them win the title in 2015 and last season.