Big boys continue to splash out

Two of the Premier League’s title hopefuls flexed their transfer muscles yesterday as Diego Costa completed his £32 million move from Atletico Madrid to Chelsea while Liverpool signed Lazar Markovic from Benfica for an undisclosed fee, reported to be £20m.

Striker Costa has long been linked with a switch to Stamford Bridge and a fee was agreed earlier this month, with Chelsea meeting his £32m buy-out clause.

A statement on Chelsea’s website read: “Chelsea FC is delighted to announce Diego Costa has today completed his transfer from Atletico Madrid by signing a five-year contract. He will join up with the first team for our pre-season European training camp next week.”