Costa’s love-in with Chelsea fans adds to the romance of Premier League title hunt

Diego Costa has revealed that his love affair with the Chelsea fans persuaded him to stay at Stamford Bridge rather than leave for Atletico Madrid in the summer.

Costa has been at the forefront of Antonio Conte’s side’s charge to the top of the table and the league leaders get the chance to add to their points tally when they go to Tottenham in the Premier League tomorrow.

Liverpool sit in second spot after a 2-2 draw at Middlesbrough, while Manchester City leapfrogged Arsenal into third — but the Gunners play tonight at Bournemouth.

But it is the Blues that lead the way and Conte — who fired in his14th strike of the season against Stoke on Saturday as Chelsea made it 13 league wins on the bounce — says he is pleased he decided to stay in London.

He said:

“The manager has come, he’s applied his ideas, and things are going well. The truth is the manager is good with the players, every time making more jokes with the players.”

“That’s good for us, to have a manager who is not just a boss, but like a person we can talk with, someone whose support we can count on in difficult moments. He is calm with the players and you can see the people love him more all the time.”

“I was about to leave but not because of Chelsea, because here there’s a lot of love with the supporters so I’m very happy here, I’m content. Here, the people love me a lot. There was one thing I wanted to change for family reasons but it wasn’t to be and I continue to be happy here. It was important too that the manager said he counted on me.”

“Things are coming out well for me this season, but it’s very important that the team has other players, like Batshuayi, who can do well, and that the manager knows he has good players that can replace me.”