Wednesday 4 June 2014

Atletico Madrid Striker Diego Costa Set To Join Jose Mourinho As He Passes Chelsea Medical

Diego Costa
Spain striker Diego Costa has passed a medical at Chelsea ahead of a proposed £32m transfer from Atletico Madrid. Chelsea met the buyout clause in the 25-year-old's contract with Atletico and he will now negotiate personal terms. Costa scored 36 goals in 52 games for Atletico this season as they won their first La Liga title since 1996 and reached the Champions League final. The Brazil-born forward is in Spain's World Cup squad.

Name: Diego Costa

Born: 7 October 1988, Lagarto, Brazil

Clubs: Braga 2006, Penafiel 2006 (on loan), Atletico Madrid 2006-09, Braga 2007 (on loan), Celta Vigo 2007-08 (on loan), Albacete 2008-09 (on loan), Real Valladolid 2009-10, Rayo Vallecano 2012 (on loan), Atletico Madrird 2010-14.

League appearances for Atletico: 94

League goals for Atletico: 43

La Liga wins: 2013-14

Copa del Rey wins: 2012-13

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said in May that the addition of a "killer" striker would be a key priority during the summer. The London club scored 71 goals in the Premier League this season, 31 fewer than champions Manchester City, who finished four points ahead of them. Chelsea strikers Samuel Eto'o, Fernando Torres and Demba Ba contributed a total of 19 of those in the league, with 33-year-old Eto'o, now a free agent, scoring nine of them.

"We have to try to win as a team, to improve as a team, but also add the attacking player with that killer instinct," Mourinho said last month. Mourinho will hope that Costa will go some way towards addressing that problem having enjoyed a prolific campaign with Atletico. Costa scored 27 goals in La Liga and only finished third behind Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo (31) and Barcelona's Lionel Messi (28) on the list of top goalscorers.

The striker also scored against Chelsea from the penalty spot in the semi-finals of the Champions League, one of his eight goals in the tournament, as Atletico came from behind to win 3-1 at Stamford Bridge.
Costa was born and raised in Brazil and made two friendly appearances for them last year before he became a naturalised Spaniard.

No comments:

Post a Comment