Atletico Madrid have terminated Diego Costa’s contract by mutual consent.
The former Chelsea striker is now a free agent.
Arsenal are thought to among the clubs who will be keen to snap up the veteran striker when the window opens on Friday.
After falling down the pecking order under Diego Simeone, Costa is understood to have instructed Atletico to tear up his contract, which had just six months to run.
Costa remains convinced he can still compete at the top in Europe for around two to three seasons and his sudden availability as a free agent is likely to make him hot property in the transfer window.
Despite him now being a free agent, he can only move when the transfer window reopens having been under contract at Madrid for the first half of the season, but he will not be tied down to any deadline at the end of the month and would still be free to move to a new side heading into the next few months.
