Diego Costa has admitted that he came close to leaving Chelsea last summer, but has appeared to quash rumours that he could depart for the lucrative Chinese Super League.
The Spain international has been linked with an £80m move to Tianjin Quanjian, 10 days after his teammate Oscar agreed a £60m switch to Shanghai SIPG.
Costa has become a vital member of Antonio Conte's attack this season having scored 14 Premier League goals so far, but his future at Stamford Bridge was in doubt following Chelsea's poor 2015-16 campaign, which included the sacking of manager Jose Mourinho.
The striker has now revealed that he almost left the Blues to rejoin La Liga side Atletico Madrid, where he spent four years of his career before moving to England in 2014.
However, the transfer failed to materialise and now Costa has insisted that he is happy at Chelsea, who are currently leading the title charge with a six-point advantage at the top of the table.
"Yes, yes. I was about to leave," The Mirror quotes Costa as saying. "I was about to, but, well, I'm happy here as well and that's that.
"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 very happy. I'm very content.
"There was one thing I wanted to change for family reasons but it wasn't to be, and I continue happy here. It was important too that the manager, from the very first minute, said he counted on me."
Chelsea matched the Premier League record of 13 consecutive wins when they overcame Stoke City 4-2 on Saturday.
Danielle Joynson
