Conte dismisses Costa transfer talk: He wants to stay at Chelsea

Antonio Conte says Diego Costa won't be going anywhere in the January transfer window and is available to play in Sunday's visit from relegation-threatened Hull City.

The striker fell foul of his manager's expectations at Chelsea after a supposed row with the club's fitness coach over a back injury, which also coincided with alleged interest from the spendthrift Chinese Super League.

It led to his exclusion from last weekend's 3-0 victory at Leicester City, but now he's poised for involvement this weekend at Stamford Bridge.

"The player wants to stay at Chelsea, he is very happy to play with us. I don't see any problem," Conte told reporters on Friday.

"I heard a lot of speculation about Diego, but the most important thing is that he has trained with us and he is available."

Since the apparent fallout behind the scenes and his subsequent return to first-team training at the Blues, rumours linger over Costa's potential departure in the summer.

Tianjin Quanjian - which already secured Axel Witsel this month on a contract worth £17 million a year - remains interested despite rule changes making it difficult for the Chinese outfit to acquire another overseas player. Costa's wage offer in East Asia was believed to be in the region of £30 million annually.

The 28-year-old's first half of the campaign had promising signs that the combative forward - whose Chelsea stay has been marred by various disciplinary issues - had curbed his behaviour to produce performances of controlled aggression and increased output.

Compared to last season, Costa has committed less fouls but has also developed the knack of winning free-kicks with greater regularity. Most telling, however, is his 14 Premier League goals - a division-high shared with Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez.

But in his absence, table-topping Chelsea hasn't exactly missed its free-scoring striker. When he was unavailable for a visit from Bournemouth on Boxing Day through suspension, an Eden Hazard-inspired Blues impressively topped the Cherries by a 3-0 scoreline. Then the result at Leicester served further evidence of attack's strength in depth without Costa - an area where £33-million summer signing Michy Batshuayi is struggling to trouble the starting lineup.

Chelsea follows the hosting of Hull with some appetising fixtures. Ambitious Championship side Brentford travels to SW6 in an FA Cup fourth-round tie on Jan. 28, before Premier League tests against title rivals Liverpool and Arsenal.