Chelsea could have received £17.9 million more in their sale of want-away Diego Costa, as Everton wanted him to replace Manchester United-bound Romelu Lukaku earlier this year.
This comes according to The Mirror, who claim that the Toffees were willing to hand over £70 million for the now-Atletico Madrid bound Costa, after selling star man Lukaku to United for £75 million.
However, it is reported that Costa turned down the Merseyside club, making it clear that he was only interested in signing for former club Atletico.
Last week, an agreement was reached for the transfer of Costa to the Madrid side, and Costa is expected to be unveiled as an Atletico player early this week, with the Spaniard joining the club on loan before the deal becoming permanent at a later stage.
Costa scored 64 goals in 135 Atletico Madrid appearances over three seasons before moving to Chelsea in 2014. Since his arrival at Stamford Bridge, he has made 120 appearances, scoring 59 goals.
The 6’2″ striker has not been without his controversies at Chelsea though; in March 2016, he was accused of biting Everton player Gareth Barry during a match and in August 2015, he slapped and pushed Laurent Koscielny in a game against Arsenal, and was later handed a ban by the FA.
