Chelsea signed Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata to bolster their attack and while their manager Antonio Conte was thrilled with the £60 million acquisition, the Italian emphatically stated that Diego Costa has no future at the club. 

Speaking to the media on the eve of Chelsea’s clash with arch-rivals Arsenal at the Bird’s Nest in Beijing, Conte expressed his happiness at Morata’s move.

“I think for sure he is (a) good signing for us,” Conte said.

“Morata is a young player who has a lot of experience. He has played with Real Madrid and Juventus and has a lot of experience for the league and also in the Champions League," he added.

Considering Morata was not a regular starter at Real Madrid last season, the fact that Chelsea had to break their own transfer record speaks volumes of a market that is greatly inflated. 

And Conte lamented the current situation and labelled the current transfer market a “crazy market’. He highlighted a selection of fees paid across the board for strikers this summer and pointed out that in order to buy a “simple, normal player” a club has to think about spending €40 to €50 million.

Manchester United signed Romelu Lukaku from Everton for a reported figure of £75 million and Manchester City made Kyle Walker the most expensive defender in the world when they bought him for a staggering fee of £54 million from Tottenham Hotspur.

“This is the situation now,” he continued, “we have to live with it and you must be very good and don’t make mistakes when you buy because you have to spend a lot of money and it is very important your choice,” the Italian tactician said.

When quizzed on the topic of wantaway striker Diego Costa, Conte said: “I don’t like to talk about a player when they don’t stay here, the only things I can tell you is in January the Costa situation was very clear for the club, for him and for his agent, and the situation is closed”.

In January, Costa had tried to force a move to the Chinese Super League and reportedly had a furious row with Conte, sparking speculation that the Spaniard could leave the Blues in the lurch.

The Italian put his foot down and blocked the transfer, but their relationship had soured irrevocably and after Costa declared in June that Conte send him a message, saying he didn't want him at the club, his future with the Blues always looked bleak. 

The Brazilian-born Spaniard is said to favour a move back to former club Atletico Madrid, but with the Rojiblancos under a transfer embargo at the moment, a move back to Diego Simeone’s side is uncertain. 

And with interest from the Chinese Super League cooling off, Chelsea are running out of options and Costa might be off-loaded at a cut-price with little over a month to go before the transfer deadline.