Chelsea forward Pedro still hopes that fellow Spain international Diego Costa will remain at the club.
Costa was Chelsea’s top scorer last season with 20 goals and he set up seven more in 35 league starts to help the Blues win the Premier League, but the 28-year-old announced earlier this month he would be leaving this summer after receiving a text message from coach Antonio Conte stating he was not counting on his services despite player having two years left on his contract.
Pedro, who has played with Costa the past two campaigns in London, told Cadena Ser radio: “We will see what happens to Diego but we don’t know.
“He is obviously a very important player in attack for us. He has scored the majority of the goals for us this season.
“He is a player feared by defenders because he is fast. He scores with ease.
“Diego gives you an added strength and more so in this league, because he is strong, he scores and he has good physical condition.
“If eventually it is confirmed that he will not continue with us, it will be a very big loss for us.
“It’s early days but I hope as a player and friend that he can stay with us.”
Costa reportedly had a training ground bust-up with Conte in January and was linked with Chinese Super League club Tianjin Quanjian soon after. However, Pedro says too much was made of the incident.
“I don’t know what type of relationship they have but I think it’s a good one,” he said. “Diego has played everything, he has achieved all the goals that the coach set him. In the changing room and on the pitch, we haven’t seen anything strange between them.”
Costa, who joined Chelsea in the summer of 2014 from Atletico Madrid after the English club triggered his £32 million release clause, and has said he would welcome a return but the Liga side cannot register new players until January 2018 due to a FIFA transfer ban.
Pedro knows Chelsea, who did not play in European competition in the 2016-17 campaign, will need the best players to again contend for honours next season.
“We hope to have another great year,” the former Barcelona player said. “We know it’s going to be a very demanding season, more complicated as we will be competing in the Champions League.
“To compete in four competitions, including the Champions League, which is a very prestigious and challenging competition, will be a stern test and so will it be to defend the league title.
“We are going to work very hard. This coach works all facets very well and I’m sure we will point to have a great campaign.”
Pedro said Chelsea’s success was inspired by former Juventus and Italy coach Conte, who took the helm before last season.
“In my second season at the club, there has been a radical change with respect to the team,” he said. “We had a different mentality and I think this coach has worked very well with the players he has had.
“He has been able to create a group, build a strong and solid team, and in the end, we have reaped the rewards. We all worked for the same objective …
“It’s his tactical rigor. He gives us a lot of security and has given us order, which we didn’t have. We all know our position on the pitch, where he wants us to defend or attack. We have worked on that during training every week in an almost obsessive way.
“His tactical work has given us the added strength. He has united the changing room so that we can all go together as one.”
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