The premier league champions, Chelsea FC are set to begin the title defence with a fixture at home to Burnley at Stamford Bridge without their top scorer last season Diego Costa. According to ESPN the embattled forward and Chelsea are enmeshed in legal proceedings as the acrimonious battle to resolve the striker's future.
Costa has remained in his home town of Lagarto in Brazil while talks continue over a move back to Atletico Madrid.
Last week, Costa's lawyer Ricardo Cardoso threatened to utilise "all possible legal mechanisms" against Chelsea and submit a formal transfer request in response to what he referred to as the "discriminatory behaviour" of head coach Antonio Conte towards his client, who was informed by text earlier this summer that his career at Stamford Bridge was over.
Chelsea's position is that Costa and his representatives were made aware in January that he would not be in Conte's plans for this season, and a club spokesman later described Cardoso's allegations against the Blues head coach as "nonsense."
But sources with knowledge of the situation have confirmed that the dispute is now a legal matter, though details of the proceedings have not been disclosed.
