The 28-year-old refused to return to London after the end of last season, accusing manager Antonio Conte of treating him 'like a criminal'.

And while many clubs wanted to acquire his services at the end of the transfer window, the striker insisted he only wanted a move to Atletico.

Los Colchoneros finally granted him his wish earlier this week, signing the striker, who will be eligible to play for them in January.

But according to Marca, Everton launched a stunning €75m (£66m) bid for the player over the summer.

The Toffees had a war-chest to spend after offloading Romelu Lukaku to Manchester United for £75m.

Ronald Koeman's side spent big during the transfer window, bringing in Wayne Rooney, Davy Klaasen, Michael Keane and Gylfi Sigurdsson to name a few.

Everton have had a poor start to the season, which has seen them lose three of their opening league games, scoring just four.

The Merseyside outfit weren't the only club to chase Costa over the summer.

AC Milan tried to persuade the forward to join their new-look squad as they make a bold bid for the Serie A title.

Turkish sides Trabzonspor and Fenerbahce also enquired about Costa, who would not budge on his stance regarding Atletico Madrid, despite their transfer embargo.