Antonio Conte's decision to dump Diego Costa by text threatens to cost Chelsea millions of pounds, despite a warning from the club's board that he will not be allowed to negotiate his own exit.
Costa revealed late on Wednesday night (local time) that he had received a message from head coach Conte informing him that he was not part of the Italian's plans for next season, with Chelsea set to replace him with Romelu Lukaku.
The London Telegraph understands the exchange between the pair took place at the start of the week and it was Costa's reply to advice over what he should be doing during the summer that provoked Conte.
Costa responded to Conte's message that he is not wanted by contacting board members to tell them that Chelsea will now have to sell him on his terms. But director Marina Granovskaia, who is the closest ally of owner Roman Abramovich, informed Costa in no uncertain terms that it was Chelsea and not him who would negotiate his exit.
Chelsea's position does not alter the fact that Conte's message being made public weakens their position over negotiating a fee and opens up the potential for the striker to claim a loyalty payment when he goes.
It could also impact on Granovskaia's attempts to convince Everton to lower their £100 million ($169 million) valuation of Lukaku, with the Goodison Park club aware of Chelsea's need for a Costa replacement.
Atletico Madrid remain keen to re-sign Costa, despite their transfer ban that runs until January, while AC Milan have made an inquiry about taking the 28-year-old and met with his agent, Jorge Mendes.
Chinese Super League club Tianjin Quanjian had been willing to pay £76 million ($129 million) for Costa, but Chelsea will be forced to listen to significantly lower offers from European clubs.
Costa had accused Chelsea of trying to push him to China after the FA Cup final defeat by Arsenal and insisted that he only wanted to join Atletico. He reaffirmed his desire to return to Atletico, but acknowledged that the Spanish club's transfer ban complicated matters. That will give AC Milan hope of convincing Costa to move to Italy and could revive interest from China, although Spanish sources claim he could sign for Atletico and not play until January.
There is also the option of Costa trying to find a club to play for until the new year before then moving to Atletico. Costa has two years of his Chelsea contract remaining and his advisers could now claim a loyalty bonus for their client if he leaves by arguing that it is Conte and the club who have broken the terms of that agreement.
Other than revealing that Conte no longer wanted him, Costa confirmed that his relationship with the manager had been "bad".
There were problems from the start, as Conte refused to pick Costa in pre-season when the striker claimed he could not complete the full training schedule because of back pain while speculation raged over a possible return to Atletico.
Conte dropped Costa in January after rowing with him over Tianjin Quanjian's lucrative bid to sign him, with the Spain international again complaining of a back injury.
The pair also clashed over Costa requesting to be substituted in a game against Leicester City and a training-ground incident in which it was feared he had injured Nathaniel Chalobah.
Conte and Costa struck a truce that helped Chelsea win the Premier League and lasted until the end of the season, but the relationship was clearly strained.
Despite making a joke of it in public, Conte was unimpressed by Costa drinking beer in the Chelsea dressing room in December and his half-time visit to the press lounge buffet last month.
There has been a growing feeling inside Stamford Bridge that this summer would be the best time to sell Costa and free the club of his accompanying baggage. This is the third successive summer in which Costa has attempted to engineer a move back to Atletico, having signed from them for £32 million ($54 million) in 2014. He has never fully settled in England and has regularly complained about the bad weather.
Revealing Conte's message, Costa said: "I'm a Chelsea player, but they do not want me there. Antonio Conte has told me by message that I do not follow at Chelsea and that's it. Conte said he did not count on me for next season.
"My relationship with the coach has been bad this season. It's a shame. I've already forwarded the message to Chelsea people to decide. You have to find a team."
The Telegraph, London
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