Chelsea manager Antonio Conte is delighted that Diego Costa has ignored overtures from Atletico Madrid to remain at Stamford Bridge.
The Italian will take charge of the Blues for the first time in a competitive fixture against West Ham on Monday and could have the Spain international striker in his squad after warning Atleti off the player they had made their top transfer target.
The Brazil-born star excelled in a previous spell with the Vicente Calderon outfit but Conte believes he can make him better than ever.
"I am happy that he stayed here and decided to work with us," Conte said. "We know he can improve with the work."
Costa, Chelsea's top scorer in each of the last two seasons, and Conte are both famed for their fiery attitudes, and the ex-Juventus boss admires that.
"I like the spirit of Diego because he always shows a great passion, I am the same, I have great passion for this football. He doesn’t want to lose and I like that passion, I want this passion in the team," he said.
"I know that he is a fantastic finisher and I think that Diego can improve the team a lot. Now, he is a fantastic player but he can improve a lot and I hope for this.
“Diego is a forward and he knows that in my idea of football, the forward must always be a point of reference for the team. I don’t like them to move around the pitch, I like them to stay there because you are a forward, you are committed to score the goals, stay in the right position, to play. You are a forward, not a midfielder or a defender!"
The Italian was eager not to place too much expectation upon his player by putting a target number of goals for the season.
“I never ask this of my striker, never, never. I ask my players to have the right attitude, right behaviour and right commitment. It is important that the players, play our style of football.
“I think all the players need to improve, not only for Diego Costa. My work is to win but also to improve the players. It is important for me to leave him a percentage to improve. I think the coach or manager must improve his players in different aspect, my job is this, to improve my players. Maybe the most important thing.”
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