Diego Costa won't be remaining at Chelsea until January and will instead move out on-loan before moving to Atletico Madrid in the new year, The Daily Mail reports.

What's the story?

Diego Costa's fall from grace in the eyes of Antonio Conte has been well publicised and the two-time Premier League winner looks set to end his stint with Chelsea imminently, with Spanish outlet AS stating the striker has returned to Spain and will stay there until his future is resolved.

The signing of Alvaro Morata in the summer has reiterated Chelsea's view that Costa is surplus to requirements and he's hit the ground running at Stamford Bridge, leaving compatriot Costa out of the frame despite his fellow striker being named in Chelsea's first-team squad for the first-half of the season.

That suggested that Diego Costa could still play a part in Chelsea's campaign over the course of the coming months before returning to Atletico Madrid in January but The Daily Mail report he could be on his way to Saudi Arabia on-loan instead, joining Al Hilal.

Why's it such a mess?

Chelsea really have made a dogs meal out of the situation concerning Diego Costa, which started when Conte decided to inform the Spanish striker that he's surplus to requirements via text- a precedent for the shambles that followed.

Atletico Madrid, handed a transfer ban until 2018, couldn't finalise a move in the summer window but Costa has refused to return to West London, staying in Brazil before flying his family out to Madrid in the past week- where AS say the striker has now joined them.

Both parties are guilty of mismanagement in this situation but it definitely casts a rotten picture of Chelsea, which could prove to be problematic should things go wrong this season- and it may even put players off joining the Premier League champions.