Chelsea want Conte to pay damages for Diego Costa text message debacle

Chelsea could withold some of Antonio Conte's severance package due to the infamous text message to Diego Costa.

According to 'the Times' Chelsea will argue that the Conte's text message informing Costa that the player was no longer in the manager's plans was damaging to his value.

Conte, who was officially replaced by Maurizio Sarri last week, is claiming that the club's delay in deciding his future cost him job opportunities elsewhere.

The two grievances would mean that Conte and Chelsea would effectively be suing each other.

Conte had a poor relationship with the club's management body, which only got worse when the text controversy became public.

Last June, Conte text Costa saying "Hi Diego, Thank you, but you are not in my plans."

The striker understandably was unhappy with this, and didn't return to Chelsea, or play under Conte again, significantly weakening Chelsea's negotiating position in the transfer window.

Costa went on to join Atletico Madrid for £57.2million, but the Blues believed that they could have got a lot more.

It looks like this legal battle is going to rumble on for a while, as both parties look for compensation from the other.