According to Marca, Diego Costa has approached Atletico Madrid and asked to be released from his contract 6 months early for personal reasons.
Costa re-joined Atletico in January 2018 for £54 million after waiting for almost six months at Stamford Bridge for the deal to go through.
Since reconnecting with his former club Costa has only managed to score 19 goals in 81 games and has only started two games so far this season with a further five appearances from the bench.
Costa’s request came as a surprise to Atletico who are currently joint top of La Liga with city rivals Real Madrid on 32 points – with Atleti holding two games in hand.
The club may reluctantly accept Costa’s request despite reports that they wanted to sell the Brazilian born Spain international.
The 32 year-old will want to exit as soon as possible in order to address his ‘personal problems,’ and is unlikely to want to wait the remaining six months left on his current deal.