Mourinho: Costa happy at Chelsea

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has rubbished reports that star striker Diego Costa wants to leave the Premier League champions.

Spain international Costa moved to Stamford Bridge from Atletico Madrid ahead of the 2014-15 campaign and played a key role in Chelsea’s title success with 20 league goals.

However, speculation in the press earlier this week suggested that Costa was unsettled in London and is looking to move back to Spain.

Mourinho, though, stated that the striker is committed to Chelsea.

“He’s the guy responsible for everything good we have in the dressing room,” Mourinho said after Chelsea beat Sydney FC 1-0 in a post-season friendly on Tuesday. 

“He’s so happy, so funny, he enjoys every minute and is the happiest guy in the dressing room.

“If this is unhappiness I’m happy with that. He was not happy with the news.”

Costa played 40 minutes against Sydney, a match settled by a superb Loic Remy strike, before coming off with a seeming ankle injury.

“We wanted to try to play our best players,” Mourinho added. “This group of 10 seniors, we played them all.

“Diego tried, we didn’t want to take any risks. I told him to give the fans at least half an hour and he played until the 40th minute, we felt that was enough.”