Diego Costa rejected a move to Liverpool a year before quitting Atletico Madrid for Chelsea

Chelsea striker Diego Costa has revealed that he almost joined Liverpool a year before he completed his Stamford Bridge transfer.

The Spanish international joined the Blues in the summer of 2014, in a reported £32m deal from La Liga champions Atletico Madrid. He has gone on to take the Premier League by storm and has already notched up 17 goals thus far this season, taking Jose Mourinho's team to the top of the league table.

The report claims that Brendan Rodgers tried to sign the striker in 2013, a year before Chelsea made their move and were even willing to meet the striker's then release clause of £21m.

However, the striker refused to leave the Spanish capital club after fighting hard to win a regular place in the starting XI. Costa also doubled his wages in Madrid by signing a new contract until the summer of 2018.

He went on to score 36 goals in all competitions for Atletico as they went on to win the La Liga title after a gap of 18 years. They also reached the final of the Champions League, where they lost to local rivals Real Madrid.

The 26-year-old forward has now revealed that he was on the verge of leaving the club, but wanted to stay and grow with the club and hence turned down a move from the Merseyside outfit.

"I was close to leaving Atletico," Costa said, as quoted by the Mirror.

"Liverpool are a great team, but after fighting so hard and overcoming difficulties to get my place at Atletico, how could I leave?" the former Atletico forward explained.

"I thought it was very important to keep growing with Atletico and to play there for many years," the Spanish international added.