Pedro hopes Diego Costa remains at Chelsea but is in the dark over Spaniard's Stamford Bridge future

Diego Costa will prove to be a 'very big loss' for Chelsea if he does depart Stamford Bridge this summer, according to his compatriot Pedro.

Costa, 28, has been informed by Antonio Conte that he is not in his plans for next season and is allowed to leave west London for pastures new, but Pedro does not know if the former Atletico Madrid hitman will definitely leave the Premier League champions before the end of the transfer window.

Costa was heavily linked with a move to China in January after clashing with Conte during a training session, but the pair managed to put their differences aside and help Chelsea storm to the Premier League title.

Pedro, who scored nine times and provided the same number of assists as Chelsea won their second league title in three years, hopes Costa will remain a part of Conte's side and believes the Blues will sorely miss the fiery forward if he does move on.

"We will see what happens to Diego [Costa] but we don't know," Pedro told Cadena Ser radio. "He is obviously a very important player in attack for us. He has scored the majority of the goals for us this season. He is a player feared by defenders because he is fast. He scores with ease.

"Diego gives you an added strength and more so in this league, because he is strong, he scores and he has good physical condition. If eventually it is confirmed that he will not continue with us, it will be a very big loss for us. It's early days but I hope as a player and friend that he can stay with us."

Chinese Super League side Tianjin Quanjian were confident of completing a £76m deal for Costa, according to The Telegraph, but the league's new rules regarding spending has made the proposed transfer substantially harder to complete.

Costa is believed to be keen on a return to Atletico Madrid, the club that sold him to Chelsea for £32m in the summer of 2014, but Diego Simeone's side are currently unable to sign players after being hit with a registration ban for breaching Fifa rules regarding the recruitment of minors.

Conte wants to replace Costa with Everton forward Romelu Lukaku, but the Toffees' £100m valuation is currently too dear for Chelsea, who allowed Nathan Ake to join Bournemouth for £20m on Friday (30 June).