A new biography has revealed how Jose Mourinho scuppered Liverpool's bid to sign Diego Costa - a year before he arrived in west London.
The Reds had identified Costa, 26, as a target and lodged a £21.8million with Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2013, which triggered his release clause.
But Liverpool and Brendan Rodgers were ultimately given the cold shoulder by Costa, who, after speaking to Mourinho, decided to stay with Atletico, according to Spanish journalist Fran Gillen’s biography of the Spain international entitled, Diego Costa: The Art of War.
Costa in fact penned a new deal with Atletico that summer before making the move to Chelsea 12 months later in a deal worth £32million, which eclipsed the offer by Liverpool a year earlier.
Gillen's biography reads: "Jose Mourinho, recently returned to Chelsea, had also identified Costa as a primary target, a Didier Drogba-style centre-forward around whom he could forge a new winning machine.
"However, Mourinho had yet to persuade the owner of Chelsea, Roman Abramovich, to accelerate his rebuilding plans. In both acquiring new players and moving others on, the process would be gradual.
"If Costa could not be signed [for Chelsea] now, a strategy was needed to ensure he was delayed, and not diverted.
"Chelsea and Mourinho made their case to Costa and Atletico: turn down Liverpool now and we will sign you – for more money – in 12 months."
Costa, who was originally a teenage truck driver working for his uncle in Brazil, fired 20 goals in his debut season last term en route to the Premier League title with Chelsea.
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