Diego Costa's teammate, David Luiz, hits out at his critics

Despite being Chelsea’s top scorer and having been one of the best performers in the Premier League this season, Diego Costa has attracted some negative press of late.

The Spain striker was left out of the Blues squad that comfortably saw off current champions Leicester little over a week ago – leading to speculation about his future.

Costa has been linked with huge offers from China – as have so many other of the Premier League’s best talents – and his absence from the squad had further fuelled the speculation.

On top of the fact that the 28-year-old reportedly had a training ground fall out with fitness coach Julio Tous, it certainly made for some rather unwanted headlines over the past week or so.

However, the stories surrounding the Chelsea striker did little to put Costa off against relegation-threatened Hull City at the weekend, with the Spaniard netting the Blues’ first in a 2-0 win.

Pedro has already come out and claimed that their star frontman is happy at the club, and now David Luiz has defended his teammate, also – hitting out at his critics in recent weeks.

Costa is certainly a cause for headlines, whether it’s his prolific nature in front of goal or his on-field temperament the story, but links with a China move have certainly not helped the striker.

“That’s his [Costa] job, to score goals, and he works on that every day,” Luiz told SFR Sport, as per Goal.

“He does his job very well. He’s a great player who’s in fantastic form right now.”

Costa has brilliantly turned his form around after a disappointing season last campaign, in which he scored just 12 league goals while netting 15 so far this season, and curbing his aggressive nature on the pitch.

And Luiz has credited Costa for simply getting on with his job while criticising the public and media for questioning the Spaniard’s commitment to the club over the past few weeks.

“He’s playing well,” Luiz continued. “And I’m happy for him because sometimes people talk a lot without knowing anything, and he’s had to go through that. But it’s normal people talk about the best players in the world, Diego is one of them.

“I don’t know. Things were normal. Everyone has offers, everyone has things to talk about. He’s happy, always wants to play football, that’s what’s important for me.”

The Chelsea striker previously admitted he wanted to leave Stamford Bridge last season, after their disastrous attempted title defence fell apart before Christmas, resulting in Jose Mourinho’s sacking.

But Costa has looked back to his old self this season, under the guidance of Conte, and with his form showing no signs of dipping, it’s obvious why he’s seemingly not being phased by offers in China, with the Premier League title looking likely to return to west London.

The Brazil-born Spain international reacted accordingly to the rumours and gossip surrounding his Chelsea future, following his goal against Hull on Sunday, with a celebration to suggest he is fed up of the speculation currently surrounding him.