Report: Chelsea and Atletico Madrid agree to swap Thibaut Courtois for Diego Costa

Whenever the Daily Mail pens an article “according to reports in the Spanish media” and then fails to name or cite those reports, one can be doubly (if not triply) sure there is some level of falsity to it.

Still, I’m a sucker for crappy reality television and juicy, if not baseless, transfer rumors. And this one’s a doozy: Come next summer Atletico Madrid and Chelsea will swap striker Diego Costa for netminder Thibaut Courtois.

Both players are currently playing for Atletico but Courtois’ presence there (where he has played the last three seasons) is courtesy of a loan deal from Chelsea. The 21-year-old Belgian giant has made no secret of his desire to stay in Madrid while Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho is desperate for a world-class striker to simplify the mind-numbing decision of having to play Fernando Torres, Samuel Eto’o or Demba Ba.

Costa and Courtois have been sensational of late, rising to prominence at their respective positions. Costa has fired home 19 goals in La Liga this season, second only to Cristiano Ronaldo, while Courtois is widely considered the best young keeper in Europe.

This past weekend Mourinho admitted his “hope” that Chelsea were done with business in the January transfer window but nevertheless left the door open for deals this summer.

As untrustworthy as the Daily Mail and “reports in the Spanish media” can be, the Costa for Courtois does make sense. Chelsea need a proven, world-class striker and with Petr Cech still performing as one of the top custodians in the Premier League, there’s no rush to call on Courtois. Financially, such a move would also be very attractive for Chelsea given the Financial Fair Play regulations.

So why doesn’t Chelsea get this deal done now rather than this summer?

Simple, their hands are tied.

As much as a striker like Costa could be the difference between winning the Premier League and finishing in second place for Chelsea, Atletico have zero motivation to do the swap now. They already have Courtois on loan until the end of the season so they’d gain nothing (unless significant cash were involved) in accelerating the process. Plus, Los Colchoneros are in fantastic shape both domestically (second in La Liga, even on points with leaders Barcelona) and in Europe (Champions League Round of 16).

So, if the swap is to go down Mourinho will have to wait until next summer. But if he does complete the deal Costa would be a major coup not only because he fits right in the mold of The Special One’s original prodigy, Didier Drogba, but because domestic competitors in search of a striker (Arsenal) will have one less star striker to choose from.

Follow @mprindi