Antonio Conte may tire of Diego Costa before January

Diego Costa may not finish the season playing for Antonio Conte

The relationship between Chelsea manager Antonio Conte and star striker Diego Costa is a ticking time bomb. With every incident that occurs between the two giant personalities, the chances of Costa being sold in January increase ever so slightly.

The latest incident between the two has resulted in Costa being directly instructed by the club not to criticize the manner in public. Word came down after Costa had a mild conniption fit in an effort to convince Conte to take him off the pitch against Leicester City. It was a ridiculous display that embarrassed everyone at Stamford Bridge.

Conte, to his credit, seemed to handle the incident perfectly. He left Costa out on the pitch despite his fit. In doing so, he showed his star striker who the boss of the squad really is. Chelsea are run by Antonio Conte on the pitch, not Diego Costa.

It does make you wonder what was said behind closed doors between the two men though. Conte could have shrugged it off in the dressing room, but that doesn’t seem like his style. It’s much more likely that he set Costa straight with a verbal lashing.

The fact that Chelsea have censored Costa also speaks to the probability that the incident bothered Conte more than he let on. If the manager truly didn’t think Costa’s actions were a big deal, there would have been no reason for the higher-ups at the club to intercede. The fact that they did, demonstrates that Conte was clearly upset by Costa’s immature display.

At the moment, Costa’s goal scoring record makes it difficult for Conte to really contemplate moving against him. Just imagine for a moment how things might change if he goes on a goal scoring drought.

That could bring Michy Batshuayi into contention to start some matches, and the Belgian certainly has the talent to score goals at the highest level. Costa’s antics become much more worrisome if he isn’t scoring goals to distract everyone from his juvenile displays.