Diego Costa decided to put an end to his Atletico Madrid contract halfway through the season, in the middle of the 2020-21 campaign. The club did not stop him leaving because the January transfer window was open and they could look for a replacement.
According to the Atletico Mineiro attacker, Hulk, he received an offer from Atletico Madrid. "I received an offer from Atletico Madrid. It was a one year offer with the option of another year to replace Diego Costa, who was injured and had left," he said in comments reported by 'Mundo Deportivo'.
The offer did not suit him and he decided to rule out the option of going to Atletico Madrid. Finally, Atletico decided to get Moussa Dembele on loan from Lyon and he left the following summer.
And Hulk, who refused to be Costa's substitute, was lucky to play with him at Atletico Mineiro not long afterwards. "In the end, I ended up playing with Costa in Brazil."