Player of the Week - Diego Costa

A New Attack

Chelsea's biggest signing of the summer so far is Spanish international, Diego Costa, who has signed for a reported transfer fee of £32 million. Costa has joined The Blues from Atletico Madrid, in Spain, after helping the Madrid team to their first League title in nearly 20 years. Costa will be part of a new-look attack for Chelsea this season. Costa will be joined by Chelsea legend Didier Drogba, who, after 2 years away, has moved back to Stamford Bridge from Turkish club, Galatasaray. Costa and Drogba will battle with World Cup winners Fernando Torres and André Schürrle for a place in Chelsea’s starting line up. Two strikers who won’t be lining up for Chelsea this season are Demba Ba, who has signed for Turkish club, Beskitas and Samuel Eto'o, who has also left the club.

What do we know about Costa?

Diego da Silva Costa was born in October 1988, and is from a small city called Lagarto in the North East of Brazil. Costa didn't play for a major club as a youth player, and played street football until he was 16 years old. His first major club was Braga in Portugal, which he signed for in 2006. After less than a season with Braga, and a handful of games on-loan for Penafiel in the Portuguese second division, Atletico Madrid bought Costa. He continued at Braga until the end of the 2006/07 season, and was then loaned to Celta Vigo and Albacete in the Spanish second division. In two years with Atletico, Costa didn't make one appearance and in the summer of 2009 was sold to Valladolid. After one season with Valladolid, Atletico bought Costa again. This time Costa was much more successful, and scored 43 goals in only 94 appearances between 2010 and 2014. During his time with Atletico, Costa won the Spanish League title, the Spanish Cup, the UEFA Super Cup (twice) and won a runners-up medal in the Champions League. In July 2014, Costa was signed by Chelsea.

"It was an easy decision for me to make. We have some of the best players in the world, the best manager in the world and it’s a club with great history"  Diego Costa

Has Costa played against Chelsea before?

Stamford Bridge, Chelsea's stadium, will not be totally unfamiliar to Costa because he has played there before. In April 2014, Costa scored the second goal in a 3-1 win for Atletico Madrid, which sent the Spanish side into the Champions League final against Real Madrid. Costa was also on the substitutes' bench when Atletico Madrid beat Chelsea 4-1 in the 2012 UEFA Super Cup. Chelsea fans will be hoping that Costa can score plenty of goals now that he's in a Chelsea shirt.

"The Premier League is difficult and he knows that, he is ready. I don’t think it will be difficult for him to succeed." Jose Mourinho

Which country does Costa play for?

This is a difficult one. Costa made his international debut for Brazil, the country of his birth, in March 2013 in a 2-2 draw against Italy. In the summer of 2013, Costa was given Spanish nationality and he was called up to the Spanish national team. Because Costa had only played in friendly matches for Brazil, he was still eligible to play for a different national team. Costa had a difficult decision to make. In October 2013, he decided to play for Spain and made his debut the following March. Costa made two appearances, for Spain, at the World Cup in Brazil, but unfortunately Spain didn't perform well and they exited at the group stage. 

What do we think?

Costa has been brought into the Chelsea team for one thing. To score goals! Only Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo scored more goals than Costa in La Liga last season, so expect him to be among the top goalscorers in the Premier League this season. He also has a big physical presence and will hold the ball up well for other forward players like Schurrle, Oscar and Hazard to get involved in Chelsea attacks. Will he be the top scorer in the Premier League this season? What do you think?

What did you understand?

Did you know......?

• Diego Costa scored on his Chelsea debut against Slovenian team, Olimpija Ljubljana.
• Chelsea have also signed Costa's Atletico teammate, Filipe Luis.
• Costa will join 4 other Brazilians at Chelsea: Ramires, Oscar, Willian and new signing Filipe Luis.
• There were 7 Brazilian born players playing for different national teams at Brazil 2014.
• Costa hasn't scored an international goal for Spain or Brazil.