Antonio Conte’s affection prevented me from returning to Atletico – Diego Costa

Diego Costa has been in excellent form
this season, scoring 15 times as the Blues
have gone on a 13-game winning streak.
Last term, the Spanish striker had scored
just three times before Jose Mourinho
was sacked
in December, but then he went on a
scoring run to finish the campaign with
16 goals to his name.

Costa says he is
happier at Chelsea now and praised
manager Antonio Conte for being
"someone whose support the players can
count on in difficult moments".
He said: "Could I have gone in the
summer? Yes, yes. I was about to leave.

I
was about to but, well, I'm happy here as
well and that's that. "Did I want to go?
Yes, yes. I had the possibility to go to
Atletico, because of a few things, the
family, the life I have there but not
because of Chelsea, because, here, there's
a lot of love with the supporters, with
the people, so I'm here very happy, I'm
very content. "People love me a lot.
There was one thing I wanted to change
for family reasons but, well, it wasn't to
be and I continue to be happy here. It
was important too that the manager,
from the very first minute, said he
counted on me. "The truth is the
manager is good with the players, every
time making more jokes with the players,
and 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."