CHELSEA HAVE ANNOUNCED the signing of striker Diego Costa from Atletico Madrid on a five-year deal this evening.
The 25-year-old Brazilian-born centre forward had been expected to make the move to the Blues this summer after leading Atleti to their first La Liga title in 18 years and a Champions League final with his 35 goals for the club.
Advertisement
Costa, who made his debut for Spain earlier this year after switching international allegiance, was part of Vicente Del Bosque’s squad for the World Cup but performed poorly as the reigning champions crashed out at the group stages.
He arrives for a fee reportedly in the region of €40m.
“I am very happy to sign for Chelsea,” Costa told Chelsea’s website. “Everybody knows it is a big club in a very competitive league, and I am very excited to get started in England with a fantastic coach and team-mates.
“Having played against Chelsea last season I know the high quality of the squad I am joining.
“I would like to thank everybody at Atletico who made me into the player I am, it was an incredible time for me, but now I am starting a new adventure and I hope to win many trophies with Chelsea.’
Can’t judge him for 140 minutes playing for in an underperforming side while he was injured. Showed his quality in the last two seasons in Madrid, and really at 32m at 25, when Cavani and Falcao went for double that last season, isn’t too much in today’s market.
30 odd goals in two seasons for a worse team isn’t the level Chelsea need. Demba Ba was scoring at that rate before signing for Chelsea. Truth is teams set up differently against the top teams than the rest. Lukaku never impressed against a packed defence, shown by how he was dropped for a 19 year old with about 3 caps at the WC.
Judging a player solely on a World Cup (especially when he only played about 140 mins) is daft. He was immense at times for Atletico last season, no doubting that.
I think this is gonna be Torres 2.0. Simeone wrung every last drop out of his players last season and I don’t think any Atletico 13/14 players will ever match their efforts again.
Last season was also the only time in Costa’s career that he’s ever scored more than 10 goals in one season. I could be wrong but I think it could go either way for him at Chelsea.
Mutu was decent, but honourable club that Chelsea are we chucked him for dirtying his bib, along with bosnich. Suarez wouldn’t of lasted at Chelsea with all that messin…..
Costa & Fabregas will flop, Costa had one good season at Atletico, before last season he’d never scored more than 10 goals in a league season in Portugal or Spain. Fabregas had three poor seasons at Barcelona and is past his best, huge outlay by Chelsea, can’t see either player having an influence on next seasons title.
Costa is a great player but needs the right coach to show his talent, he’s a hold up man like Drogba, this is why Chelsea have signed him, the Spain idea with him up top failed with terrible style as we all know after the World Cup group stages… I think Chelsea will get him to work but his discipline may be tested. Red card or 3.
'I think we have started the process of evolving' - Easterby reflects on Ireland's campaign
10 mins ago
FreeRout
England score 10 tries in Cardiff as dismal Wales condemned to wooden spoon
35 mins ago
13
As it happened
Italy v Ireland, Six Nations
6 hrs ago
170
Sign in or create a free account
To continue reading create a free account
Or sign into an existing account
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 157 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.Privacy Policy
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 109 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 141 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 111 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 83 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 83 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 38 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 34 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 132 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 60 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 74 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 83 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 38 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 46 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 27 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 90 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 97 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 72 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 53 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 86 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 68 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
He’s the oldest looking 25 year old I’ve ever seen
Its the Horse Placenta….
Just like Nwankwo Kanu, Taribo West and that lad off Lazio
He’s coming to Chelsea with a hamstring injury,could end up being a disaster for both player and club
Yea he was muck in the World Cup.. One of the worst if not the worst striker in the tournament….
Chelsea is a graveyard for strikers?
He can’t do any worse than Torres.
Toss up between him and Fred
Ah he wasn’t the worst, Fred was in the world cup lad
The new Shevchenko with a bit of luck.
Can’t judge him for 140 minutes playing for in an underperforming side while he was injured. Showed his quality in the last two seasons in Madrid, and really at 32m at 25, when Cavani and Falcao went for double that last season, isn’t too much in today’s market.
Fred for Chelsea!
Think Chelsea have got a very average striker for massive money! Why not give lukaku a chance, younger, more athletic and proven in the league.
Apparently Maureen thinks lukaku isn’t technically very good ???
30 odd goals in two seasons for a worse team isn’t the level Chelsea need. Demba Ba was scoring at that rate before signing for Chelsea. Truth is teams set up differently against the top teams than the rest. Lukaku never impressed against a packed defence, shown by how he was dropped for a 19 year old with about 3 caps at the WC.
He has 56 goals in his last 2 seasons. And the 1st of those he had to play on the wing a lot due to presence of falcao
Afraid? He absolutely flopped in the World Cup. Jury out. I’d be afraid of Alexis Sanchez waaaay more.
Judging a player solely on a World Cup (especially when he only played about 140 mins) is daft. He was immense at times for Atletico last season, no doubting that.
Was injured didnt have any recovery time!! You can’t rush a hamstring injury
But can’t see him hitting last seasons form under the special one
This has disaster written all over it..Very Torres like for me.
Afraid of what? Getting an elbow in the face, will be the main worry.
I think this is gonna be Torres 2.0. Simeone wrung every last drop out of his players last season and I don’t think any Atletico 13/14 players will ever match their efforts again.
Last season was also the only time in Costa’s career that he’s ever scored more than 10 goals in one season. I could be wrong but I think it could go either way for him at Chelsea.
Scored 20 goals in 12/13
After his showing in the world cup defenders will only be delighted!
Chelsea will ruin Costa. Just like Shevchenko and Fernando Torres
Look what Chelsea did to Drogba the same could happen with Costa
As a Chelsea fan I must say this is not a good buy. One good season. Waste of money.
He looks like your typical James Bond villain/drug lord
Mendoza……..
Pierluigi Casiraghi Mutu Kezman Crespo Shevi Ba Torres Sutton a long line of good strikers ruined at the bridge
Mutu was decent, but honourable club that Chelsea are we chucked him for dirtying his bib, along with bosnich. Suarez wouldn’t of lasted at Chelsea with all that messin…..
Tony cascarino
Another striker to flop at Chelsea.
Could be a good signing. Mourinho’s style will suit him. Similar to Atletico Madrid where he shone last year.
COULD be
Similar in that they defended well, but Atletico actually tried to play football, Chelsea just parked the bus.
Mourinho and ‘Style’ shouldn’t appear in the same sentence.
1 season wonder. If he’s off form moanhinio will say he didn’t want him, drop him, then get fired
Costa & Fabregas will flop, Costa had one good season at Atletico, before last season he’d never scored more than 10 goals in a league season in Portugal or Spain. Fabregas had three poor seasons at Barcelona and is past his best, huge outlay by Chelsea, can’t see either player having an influence on next seasons title.
Dunno will fabregas flop tbh
Costa is a great player but needs the right coach to show his talent, he’s a hold up man like Drogba, this is why Chelsea have signed him, the Spain idea with him up top failed with terrible style as we all know after the World Cup group stages… I think Chelsea will get him to work but his discipline may be tested. Red card or 3.
Chelsea Rangers and Shamrock Rovers. The blue triangle. Brothers in arms!
You feckin eejit
Rovers have a naughty mob of well ard casuals oi oi..
Rangers and chelsea regularly come over here and rovers go to them!!
Just because you don’t know the scene don’t blame me oi oi
Flippin Costa lot
Great player.
cheap