London: The rumour mill has it that English football league leaders Chelsea are eager to replace Diego Costa with Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata in the January transfer window.

According to a report in Italian website Calciomercato, Morata was contacted by Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte after a bust-up with Costa recently. The Spain striker was left out of their Saturday’s tie against Leicester City.

With big money offers from China for Spanish international Costa, the London club is eyeing a replacement and has put Morata at the top of their list of players to buy.

But the catch here is with Madrid’s transfer ban in place until the summer, Real Madrid chief coach Zinedine Zidane could be unwilling to part ways with Karim Benzema’s back-up.