DIEGO COSTA faces a race against time to be fit for the start of the season.
Chelsea boss Antonio Conte last night revealed his Spanish striker had developed a niggling back problem that has kept him out of training.
And he is set to miss tonight’s pre-season tune-up against Real Madrid in Detroit – having already missed the friendly here in LA against Liverpool in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Costa was moving around gingerly outside the club’s training base hours before they set off for Detroit.
The Blues kick off their Premier League campaign against West Ham at Stamford Bridge in just over two weeks – and have already been frustrated in their efforts to sign Alvaro Morata and Romelu Lukaku so being without Costa would be a major setback.
Conte said: “It’s important to see the players doing the training session. If I don’t see a player doing the training session I can’t put them in the game.
“These are my rules and it’s important to understand this.
“My concept is very clear. I want to see my players doing the work in the training session.
“If someone is injured or there is some problem and I don’t see the player in the training session it is impossible to think of putting him in the starting 11 or on the bench.
“In the last few days he had a pain in the back and for this reason he didn’t train and didn’t play.
“When Costa trained with us I saw always the right attitude but in these days he didn’t train with us.”
New £30million signing N’Golo Kante joined up with his team-mates for the first time yesterday – and Conte reckons he can be the new him!
Conte was an all-action central midfielder during his playing career at Leece and Juventus.
And he said: “In my career I had great stamina and was a great runner. Also I scored some goals. I hope Ngolo can improve in this situation.
“Maybe we are similar but I know N’Golo can become a fantastic midfielder and he can improve a lot.”
Conte was pleased to meet Kante for the first time – but does admits he will not play today because he has only had one training session with his new team-mates.
He said: “For N’Golo today he was the first day training with us. He started to look at our idea of football to understand our method.
“We’re pleased to have N’Golo with us because he is a player who doesn’t speak a lot but he does his job. He’s a good guy, humble, with a great will to work. It’s very important to me, this.
“I’ve had conversations with him. I explained what I expect on the pitch and he is an important player, can become an important player for Chelsea in the midfield, in the same way, like Matic and Fabregas and the others.
“I’m pleased to have all the players here. It’s very important. We know in 20 days we start, it is important to start in a good way.
“He’s in good physical condition, fantastic. He’s a runner. He has great stamina and endurance.
“N’Golo is in good shape but we want to respect the time in the training session and put him in to play with us in the future.
“I know the people who know N’Golo and they told me he has a fantastic attitude and great energy. Also, he doesn’t speak a lot but he does with his feet.”
Kante is known for not being one of the quietest players in the Premier League – but Conte does not care about that.
He admitted: “It’s not necessary for him to speak more. If you have two or three who speak during the game I’m very happy.
“N’Golo is a bit shy and he’s just arrived at a new club and must find confidence with his team-mates and his manager.”
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Conte is looking forward to meeting his old friend and Juventus team-mate Zinedine Zidane tonight, who is managing Real Madrid. They won two Serie A titles at Juventus.
And the Chelsea boss said: “Zizou is a good man. I know him very well and his family. And I am pleased for him and his career.
“We played together at Juventus in midfield … me, Zizou, Didier Deschamps and Edgar Davids – a good midfield.
“It was fantastic for me. I remember the genius of the football.
“Me, Deschamps and Davids were running for Zizou – but for us this was a great joy. We knew when the ball was in his possession anything could happen.”
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