Cape Town - Chinese Super League club Tianjin Quanjian have made a fresh move to land Chelsea striker Diego Costa this summer.
Costa was a target for Tianjin during the January transfer window, before the Spanish international ultimately stayed put with the Premier League leaders.
But just three of Costa’s 17 Premier League goals this season have come in 2017 and as he approaches the final two years of his Chelsea contract, Tianjin still want the frontman.
Reports in the UK have indicated that Tianjin - who signed Costa’s ex-Chelsea team-mate Alexandre Pato for £15m from Villarreal in January - want to make Costa the highest-paid player in the world with a contract worth £650,000 a week.
Tianjin owner Shu Yuhui confirmed to Sina Sports: “I can only say that we are still working on the deal (to sign Costa). And we have already made contacts with several players.
"We have high standards [in buying foreign players] and those players prefer top clubs such as Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.
"It's safe to say that we have the same transfer targets as those illustrious clubs.
“We may have to pay bigger price because our club are now competing with Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.”