Atletico Madrid are set to complete the signing of Diego Costa tonight, per Manu Sainz.
The AS journalist confirmed on Twitter this evening that the move is to be announced in the next few hours, despite Atletico's transfer ban.
The ban doesn't prevent them from signing players, but means they aren't able to register until January 1st - similar to how rivals Barcelona signed Arda Turan.
The move would mark Costa's third spell at Atletico, having also been at the from 2007-09 and 2010-14.
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He never played a league game in his first years at the club, spending three consecutive seasons on loan at Braga, Celta Vigo and Albacete respectively.
In the summer of 2009 Costa, frustrated by a lack of opportunities, argued with management and tried to force a move to Brazilian side Vitoria after Atleti blocked Barcelona B from signing the striiker.
He was eventually sold tto Real Vallodolid, as part of a deal that saw Sergio Asenjo move to Atletico, with the transfer including a β¬1 million buy-back option that could be activated by Madrid at the end of the season.
It was verbally agreed that this would be fulfilled no matter what happened that year, with Costa scoring a meagre nine times in 36 games for the side that was eventually relegated.
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Scoring an underwhelming eight times in 39 games in his first full season at the Vicente Calderon, it was agreed he would move to Turkish side Besiktas in the summer of 2011. Unfortunately though, he picked up a serious knee injury and failed his medical at the club - meaning he had to stay in Madrid.
When he had recovered from his injury, he was loaned out to Rayo Vallecano in the January transfer window, where he scored an impressive 10 goals in 16 games.
He went on to score 56 goals in 96 games over two seasons for Los Rojiblancos, winning La Liga and guiding the club to the Champions League final in his last season.
As a result, he was named in the La Liga and Champions League Teams of the Year. This prompted Chelsea to to meet his Β£32 million buy-out clause in July 2014.
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The Spanish international has since played 120 times for the Blues, bagging 59 goals and winning two Premier League titles.
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