Diego Costa appears to announce his Chelsea departure on Instagram

Diego Costa sits out Chelsea 1 – Liverpool 0

Considering it was a feisty friendly which sawCesc Fabregas sent off, it is probably somewhat fortunate that Diego Costa did not play any part in Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Liverpool.

We can but imagine just what would have happened to Costa in a “friendly” with 37 fouls and six yellow cards besides the red.

After the game, a host of Chelsea players have hit Instagram to celebrate victory over Liverpool, thanks to Gary Cahill’s goal.

Amongst those was Diego Costa, who made no mention of the Liverpool friendly itself.

“Thank you very much for all my friends!!!”

Pictured alongside Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Willian, Cesc Fabregas and Pedro, Diego Costa has a thumbs up.

His tag line on the Instagram picture is simple: “Thank you very much for all my friends!!!”

As a result, the Spanish press believe that Costa could well be on his way back to Atletico Madrid imminently, as has reportedly been his wish for some time.

Eagle eyed followers of Costa have also noticed that he has changed his icon on Instagram to a ball as well.

A generic image, that again could be construed as the start of his departure from Chelsea.

Were Chelsea to lose Costa, they would look rather light up front going into the new season, if they did not sign a new striker to replace the Brazilian-born Spain striker.