Antonio Conte burst out laughing on Friday when asked for his thoughts on Diego Costa's claim that Chelsea have treated him like "a criminal".

Costa is AWOL in Brazil after being told by Conte via text message following last season that he was no longer in the Chelsea head coach's plans.

The 28-year-old stated he would rather be fined by the club for a year than return and train with the reserves. He is hoping to force a return to Atletico Madrid, but on Friday confessed he is concerned the Blues might price him out of a move back to LaLiga.

When asked about Costa's comments to the Daily Mail at a media conference ahead of Chelsea's meeting with Tottenham at Wembley on Sunday, Conte could not contain himself.

After failing to hold in a guffaw, the Italian said: "It's great, it's great. I prefer to laugh.

"I can tell you that everyone who works in Chelsea knows very well what happened last season with him. It's funny, this interview."

Questioned as to whether he would select Costa should the striker return to the club and regain fitness, Conte added: "I'm not interested to continue this issue. I repeat, for me, it's in the past."