Chelsea could see Diego Costa leave for emerging title contenders Everton in a shocking last-minute move as the Merseyside club has reportedly opened their gates for the striker. The Spanish forward has been currently in exile after Chelsea manager Antonio Conte decided to exclude him from his plans. He is currently in Brazil and has refused to return to training with the London side.
Everton, on the other hand, are looking for a quality striker after the sale of Romelu Lukaku to Manchester United. Although they have brought in Wayne Rooney and Sandro Ramirez to fill the position initially, none of them is a like-for-like replacement for the tall and strong Belgian.
Hence, when the question of having someone as proven as Diego Costa was asked, manager Ronald Koeman’s answer was nothing surprising. He said, “I said always a warm welcome for every good player and he’s a good player. We are still looking to bring a striker in.”
Koeman’s target to add more experience on the attacking front could be well fulfilled by Diego Costa and with the Toffees willing to have him on loan will mean that the Spaniard will be able to move to Atletico Madrid once the La Liga side’s transfer ban is lifted. The win-win situation for both the player and the club would only see one loser, Chelsea.
Chelsea manager’s infamous text exchange fiasco brought the difficult relationship between him and Costa to the public. With Costa making it public instantly, Chelsea’s staff had a mammoth task on their hands to boost up the player’s valuation.
Quality wise, Diego Costa is as good a centre forward as one will get in the Premier League. The 28-year-old had a scintillating three-year spell with Chelsea, as he helped them win two Premier League titles and a League Cup. Even last season, with all the controversies going on, Costa managed to score 20 goals for the Blues that was significant to their title winning campaign.
Although Costa’s indiscipline has been a huge concern for many clubs, it should be noted that he saw no red cards during his Premier League stint over the past three seasons and just one during his time at Atletico Madrid. His mental state doesn’t affect his skills in front of the goal as scoring comes naturally to him.
He has scored 58 goals and assisted 24 times for Chelsea so far, in 120 games he played for them. For the Rojo Blancos, Costa has bagged 64 goals and 22 assists. Koeman’s side would be more than complete if he manages to land him.
