Diego Costa not fined by Chelsea before making return to training
Wednesday 18 January 2017 18:48, UK
Diego Costa was not fined £185,000 by Chelsea, according to Sky sources.
A report in The Sun on Wednesday claimed the Spain international was made to pay the fine before being allowed to return to first-team training.
Costa missed Chelsea's 3-0 victory away at Leicester on Saturday, with a back injury being the official reason for his absence, and trained on his own for two days following the win over the Premier League champions.
A source at Chelsea told SSNHQ: "We don't fine players when they injure their backs."
Sky Sports News HQ understand Costa is in contention to make his Chelsea return at home to Hull City on Nissan Super Sunday, after holding "amicable" talks with the club.
Costa held an hour-long meeting with the club at their Cobham training base on Tuesday, before rejoining the first-team squad for a practice session.
Live Nissan Super Sunday
Sky sources understand Costa was involved in a training ground row with head coach Antonio Conte last week against the backdrop of a £30m-a-year offer from Chinese club Tianjin Quanjian.
Tianjin Quanjian's owner has since indicated Costa's hopes of moving to the Chinese Super League have been scuppered by a new restriction on foreign players.
Chelsea declined to confirm whether talks between the club and Costa took place when contacted by Sky Sports News HQ.
