Hazard hopes Diego Costa will return to Chelsea after Spaniard missed out on Atletico Madrid move

Eden Hazard would like to see Diego Costa back at Chelsea after the Spaniard failed to secure his desired move to Atletico Madrid during the summer transfer window.

The Spain international has been tipped to return to the Vicente Calderon since the striker revealed in June that Chelsea manager Antonio Conte had told him by message that he was no longer in his plans ahead of the 2017-2018 season.

Costa, 28, was since been trying to force a move back to the La Liga side - opting to stay on holiday in Brazil despite being ordered to return to Stamford Bridge.

Yet, Chelsea and Atletico failed to reach an agreement over his transfer and on Friday the players was included in the Blues' 25-man Premier League squad for the current season.

Hazard hopes Conte will give Costa a new chance to resurrect his career at Chelsea after the Spanish striker played a crucial role in the Blues' run to the Premier League League title, scoring 20 goals in 35 games.

"Diego and I have been playing together for three years, we have won everything together except for the Champions League. It's a pleasure to play with him, he's a top player and a top person," Hazard said to Marca. "I would like to see him come back, but I don't make the decisions. I hope he can find a solution so that we can see him back on the pitch soon."

Conte, however, is unlikely to change his plans over Costa after bringing Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid to lead the Blues' attack this season.

Hazard is yet to play with his new teammate after missing the start to the season due to an injury. Nevertheless, the Belgium international returned to action during the Belgium's 9-0 win over Gibraltar on Thursday (31 August) and hopes to be able to join the Chelsea attack with Morata in the coming games.

"I've never played with him but I'm looking forward to it," Hazard said when asked about the former Real Madrid star. "He is still very young, but he has won many titles with Juventus and Madrid, so he has a lot of experience. We need this type of player, one who can score many goals, and Alvaro can do that. We are happy with him, he is a good person, he's talkative, even in English. We are looking forward to playing together."

Conte made five further additions to the squad during the summer transfer window in the form of Davide Zappacosta, Danny Drinkwater, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Willy Caballero and Antonio Rudiger. Yet, Hazard refused to say whether the new squad is better than last season after having also lost the likes of Nemanja Matic to Manchester United or John Terry.

"I don't know (whether this squad is stronger). We'll see at the end of the season. We won the league last year, so if we repeat that this year then we can say that the team is stronger," the Chelsea star added. "We have lost some important players, but that's compensated with the new arrivals. We will see, adapting to the new squad and trying to win games."