David Luiz thinks Diego Costa is factor in current spat with Chelsea manager Antonio Conte

Diego Costa appears to still be causing trouble at Chelsea, despite having been sold to Atletico Madrid. According to reports, David Luiz believes that his current spat with Chelsea manager Antonio Conte can be traced back to his former team-mate.

The Brazilian defender was dropped from the squad for the match with Manchester United on Sunday. It followed a dressing down from Conte during a meeting last Thursday, during which the Italian picked on Luiz for his performance in the recent Champions League defeat to Roma. After the 1-0 win over Manchester United, Conte failed to give any guarantees over the defender’s future at the club. The Times report that Luiz fears his friendship with Costa is being held against him. Luiz and Costa were vital to Chelsea’s title win last season (Getty) Conte during the win over Manchester United (Getty) The pair were good friends during their shared time at Stamford Bridge with Luiz on several occasions trying to broker peace between manager and striker before their relationship became totally irreparable. Luiz and Costa remain close.

The report from The Times adds that Chelsea sources deny that Luiz’s friendship with Costa has anything to do with the current situation. Yesterday Luiz took to social media and posted a message saying: ‘Life is great! Thank you and all my fans.’