Costa's Chelsea deal imminent after Madrid make official £12m bid for Man City's Negredo #TheElitePartyInJuly #Entertain9jar via @myentertain9jar

CHELSEA are on the verge of signing Spanish striker Diego Costa after Atletico Mardid lodged an official £12m bid for Manchester City striker Alvaro Negredo.

 

Alvaro Negredo could make a move to La Liga champions Atletico Madrid[GETTY]

According to Spanish sports newspaper MARCA, a formal approach has been made to sign the Negredo with a somewhat baffling £12m bid.
Meanwhile, Costa's £30m move to Chelsea has been the summers longest running transfer saga.
Diego Simeone's desire to replace his 27-goal a-year striker before allowing him to leave the Vicente Calderon was a frustrating factor for Blues fans to contend with.
However now that the Champions League finalists have identified their top target, Stamford Bridge should be welcoming Costa shortly.

Diego Costa has now returned from a miserable Wolrd Cup in Brazil [GETTY]

Some Man City fans may be surprised at Manuel Pellegrini's willingness to allow Negredo to leave the Etihad this summer.
The Spaniard netted nine goals with a further three assists to boot his inaugural season with the Premier League champions.
The 28-year-old began life in Manchester so impressively, cementing a place in the Chilean managers starting line-up as early as the first month, but the forward soon ran out of steam.

His last goal came in City's 3-0 Capital One Cup victory over West Ham in January.
And his subsequent poor run relegated him beneath a rejuvenated Edin Dzeko and injury prone Sergio Aguero.
Despite initial optimism that Man City will allow Negredo to leave, rumours emanating from the upper echelons at the club say that the striker is not for sale.
In any case, City now have a higher valuation of the 28-year-old than the reported £12m figure, which is significantly less than the amount they paid Sevilla for him last summer.