COMMENT: That's some mobile bill. That £10 million text message? Has Antonio Conte just played into the hands of Diego Costa and Atletico Madrid this week...?
Not likely, though that's how some are portraying the Chelsea manager's blow-up with Costa.
He's cost the club millions, they say. The board are shocked by his actions, others claim. But Conte knows what he's doing. As does Roman Abramovich, Chelsea's billionaire owner. It isn't Conte who's been boxed in by this cyber exchange...
The striker's career with Chelsea is over - and has been long before this week's events. Conte and Abramovich are in agreement - a new centre-forward must be found and Costa pushed out.
He'll go to Atletico. Even with the transfer ban. The wheels are in motion. Costa has already spoken with Julen Lopetegui, the Spain coach, about the prospect. Concerned what "3-4 months" on the sidelines would do for his World Cup chances, the striker was assured by Lopetegui. The idea of taking a fresh Costa, on the back of half a season of regular football, to Russia is something Lopetegui welcomes - which he's made clear in their chats this week.
Costa's blow up in Murcia made headlines, sure, but it was also stating the bleedin' obvious: Conte wants rid. Abramovich knew it. Jorge Mendes, Costa's agent knew it. We all did. The on and off field rows are well documented. But even in the final week, Costa couldn't help himself. The halftime assault on the media room's buffet. The messing around with fire extinguishers in full view of the press. For Conte, it was the final few straws. Costa's goading over text message was enough for the manager and he let rip. And for the player, if there was ever any hope of staying with the champions, he blew that with his reaction.
For Conte, there was no response from the striker. It was dead silence. Instead, Costa's next move was to pass his message onto Marina Granovskaia, Abramovich's chief negotiator. Costa was sure Granovskaia would alert the owner and Conte would be put in his place. But the reply was cold. Basically, wind your neck in Diego.
Which was why he went public on Wednesday night. Costa was fuming. It was a genuine one-two. First Conte's message - and then the silence from Abramovich? After the draw with Colombia, he declared it "a shame".
“I've already forwarded the message to Chelsea people to decide," he said. “But it is clear that the coach does not count on me and does not want me there."
But going behind the manager's back only reinforced Conte's argument for Abramovich. The time for player power at Chelsea is over. This season's title was a triumph of the manager, more than anyother influence, and it's now Conte, not those in the locker room, who will have the owner's ear.
The idea that Abramovich will be angry with Conte for flushing everything out in the open is a stretch. If the Russian was concerned about Costa's fee, even his loyalty bonus, then he'd have over-ruled his manager and sold the striker in January. £75 million from Tianjin Quanjian was on the table. Abramovich wasn't going to get anywhere close to that in Europe. But he went with his manager.
It was Conte who put his foot down. Give it six months, he told Abramovich, then we can reassess. Needs must n' all that. Conte knew there was zero chance of finding a like-for-like replacement midseason. So Costa was tolerated - even it meant Tianjin Quanjian's money disappearing.
It was a marriage of convenience. Nothing else. And trusted intermediaries have already assured Conte that airing their dirty linen in such dramatic fashion actually works in Chelsea's favour.
Agents. Interested centre-forwards. They're now fully aware of a huge void to fill at Chelsea. The lingering doubt of having to compete with Costa for a place in Conte's XI is gone. Romelu Lukaku. Andrea Belotti. Andre Silva. They all know they'd be signed by Chelsea as the outright No1 centre-forward at the club.
But, as Costa stated, "it's a shame", because at 28 and after two Premier League titles in three seasons, that mantle should still be his. Unfortunately, he refused to change.
And where in the past such antics would be tolerated, there's a new culture sweeping through Cobham HQ - and driven by the manager. Chelsea is changing.