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In a gesture of professional courtesy, Las Palmas have told Atlético Madrid that Spanish forward Vitolo will not play against them at Estadio Gran Canaria this weekend. The Spain winger is currently at Las Palmas on loan until Atlético’s registration ban is lifted in January.
While it is not uncommon for loan contracts to contain clauses that prevent a player from playing against his parent club, no such clause exists in this situation. As such, this represents some welcome good will between clubs.
Talks between Atlético and Chelsea have picked up and the clubs are said to be close to reaching a deal that would see Diego Costa return to Madrid. However, AS say that Chelsea are still insisting on €65 million for the Spain forward AND they want Costa apologize for comments he’s made about the London club.
It is unclear from the report what the source of this information is, but if true it is another in a long line of juvenile twists and turns to this saga, including Antonio Conte’s bizarre fit of laughter last week.
To be sure, Costa is no saint, and his comments and actions at times have been similarly petulant, but at the end of the day this is a situation of Conte and Chelsea’s own making. You can’t publicly kick a player to the curb, jack up your asking price for him and then expect him to sit quietly and take his medicine.
Here’s hoping for a swift, merciful end to this protracted affair.
- Atleti home kit makes FourFourTwo’s list of ugliest for 17/18
FourFourTwo have released a list of the ugliest kits for the 2017/18 season and Atleti’s home kit clocks in at a respectable 16th place. Real Madrid’s monstrosity of a third kit made the list a 5th place, while new Premier League side Huddersfield Town bottom things out.
In their list of the top kits for this season, Athletic Bilbao come in at 18th while UC Sampdoria take first prize.
What do you think? Who has the best and worst kits this year? Let us know below!