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Nobody is indispensable! Atletico's Diego Costa message to Arsenal and Chelsea
ARSENAL and Chelsea have both been given renewed hope in their bid to land Atletico Madrid marksman Diego Costa.
The 25-year-old has been inextricably linked to the Blues in the past few weeks, who have reportedly held preliminary talks with the La Liga outfit.
Atletico's impressive start to the season has been down in part to Costa, who has hit 19 goals in 20 league appearances.
Although Atletico remain confident of hanging onto Costa, Diego Simeone has failed to make any reassurances, as judged by his latest comments.
"No one is indispensible. What's most important is the club," Simeone told Spanish TV station Cuatro.
"Atletico has always had a turnover at the striker position from Torres, Aguero... Atletico, as a club, has always survived."
Simeone also sought to play down the significance of Costa's barren run in front of goal as he is yet to score in 2014.
He added: "Strikers have ebbs and flows and the moments when he can score goals he's score in droves. He's an extraordinary player. They're talking about a player having a crisis, when 20 days ago Spain and Brazil were fighting over which team he'd play for."
Costa has a £32 million release clause, which hasn't dissuaded his Premier League suitors, although were a deal to materialise, it is more likely it would happen in the summer.