After scoring 27 goals in the 2013/2014 La Liga season, Diego Costa attracted the attention of Chelsea, who snapped up the 25-year-old goal machine for a fee of around £32million.
The Spaniard took to the Premier League like a duck to water, netting a total of 20 goals and contributing with a further three assists in just 26 Premier League appearances as Chelsea became Premier League and League Cup champions once more.
Whilst the next season was not as impressive and included no silverware, Costa still endured a respectable season, bagging 18 returns in the form of 12 goals and six assists in 28 appearances.
The 2016/2017 season would mark the end of his stay at the club, and he made sure to end his spell at Stamford Bridge with a bang, scoring 20 goals and grabbing seven assists in 35 appearances as Chelsea lifted the Premier League for a fifth time.
After being told that he was no longer part of Antonio Conte’s plans at Chelsea, a now 28-year-old Diego Costa returned to La Liga with Atletico Madrid, with the blues selling the Spanish star for a fee of around £57million – a superb example of a deal that benefitted the Blues both on and off the pitch.
In what would prove to be just under a three year stay in his second stint at Atletico, Costa failed to transition the form he had shown in the Premier League over the last few seasons and failed to score more than five La Liga goals in a season.
Which brings us closer to the present day, as Costa, who Piers Morgan dubbed a “violent” and “unhinged monster”, mutually terminated his contract back in the 2020/2021 season in order to join Atletico Mineiro as a free agent.
His time in the Brazilian Serie A saw him make 15 appearances with four goals and a solitary assist a result of his efforts in helping Mineiro lift the league title for the first time in 50 years.
And now, he finds himself as a free agent since December 2021, but this is set to change.
The now 33-year-old is set for a shock return to the Premier League in a move that would see him link up with Bruno Lage’s Wolverhampton Wanderers.
New summer arrival Sasa Kaladjzic’s injury means that Wolves are lacking depth in around the centre-forward position, and with the supposed “return of the number 9” narrative being a key theme throughout the Premier League this season, Costa may just feel at home playing a bit-part role with the Midlands outfit.
Either way, considering Costa’s demise since leaving the club, Chelsea played a blinder with the deal as a whole.
Signing an outright goalscorer for around £32million was an astute move in its own right, but getting the best out of him before flogging him for a profit of £25million makes the move almost legendary, considering he helped the club to two Premier League titles with his 59 goals for Chelsea proving impactful during his three seasons at the Bridge.
