Diego Costa finally completes move to Chelsea

Spanish international striker Diego Costa has finally completed his move to Chelsea for a reported fee of £32million

Chelsea has finally completed the protracted signing of Spanish international striker Diego Costa from Atletico Madrid for an undisclosed fee believed to be around £32million.

The Brazilian-born star has signed a five-year contract at Stamford Bridge.

Long-awaited

This transfer has been a long awaited one, as Chelsea has long been linked with the striker for months.

It was an open secret that Costa was heading to Chelsea and the deal has been now finally officially been completed.

Struggled

Costa’s poor World Cup has not put Chelsea off signing the striker. However, there were extenuating circumstances in the striker’s poor performance at the tournament.

He went into the World Cup carrying an injury and never truly looked like he was fully-fit.

One of the other factors of his poor performance was the fact that the world champions as a whole were very poor in Brazil and looked lifeless, so he cannot really be judged on his World Cup displays.

Outstanding

It would be fairer to judge the striker on his club form with Atletico Madrid over the past few seasons. When Radamel Falcao left Atleti for Monaco last summer, the club from the Spanish capital must have feared the worst, but as always they found a solution to selling their best player, that solution was Costa.

The fiery striker scored 27 goals in La Liga and eight goals in just nine Champions League appearances. The striker inspired Diego Simeone’s side to their first Spanish title in 18 years and helped Atleti reach the Champions League final.

Costa was the focal point of a very good Atletico team and without him they would not have reached the heights of last season. The prior season the striker scored 10 La Liga goals, but had to play second fiddle to the aforementioned Falcao.

Costa was regarded as one of the most feared strikers in the European game last season and he became one of the most in-demand too after his goal scoring exploits.

However, it has seemed that he had been destined for a move to Chelsea, with Blues boss Jose Mourinho seemingly relentless in his pursuit of the striker.

Lacking

Chelsea was very nearly the complete team last season, defensive at times, but close to complete. At times they lacked a prolific striker though and in the end it contributed to the Blues not winning the Premier League title.

Mourinho even admitted that he felt his strikers Fernando Torres, Samuel Eto’o and Demba Ba were not up to the job. A new striker was always a prior for Chelsea this summer and Costa has been the obvious target for a good while.

Discipline

Last season Diego looked like the complete striker, but there is one area of his game that could concern Chelsea fans and that is his poor disciplinary record. He was booked seven times last season in La Liga and sometimes he sails a bit close to the wind with officials.

However, that aggression is part of what makes him such a danger to opposition defences. It is unlikely that he will change his style anytime soon. I get the feeling he may get very familiar with Premier League referees next season.

Adaption

Costa may take a while to adapt to the Premier League, as a player new to the country and league. However, Costa seems to have all the attributes needed to be a successful striker in the English top-flight.

Successful

Chelsea’s transfer business so far this summer has been impressive with Costa being joined by former-Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas as new additions to the Blues squad for next season. I think most Chelsea fans will be pleased with their clubs business so far.

Stronger

Chelsea came very close to claiming the Premier League title last season, but was not quite good enough in the end. However, with the prospect of Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa in the Chelsea squad they are definitely stronger than last season.

They have lost England midfielder Frank Lampard and Brazilian centre-back David Luiz, but you could argue that neither of the players was guaranteed a place in the Blues starting line-up last season. The Blues also got very good money for maverick Brazilian Luiz from PSG.

The two big summer signings have made Chelsea favourites to win the Premier League title at odds of 15/8. With the possibility of more new arrivals this summer at Stamford Bridge Chelsea fans and players alike will be confident that they can lift the Premier League trophy next season.

Will the signing of Diego Costa help Chelsea win the title next season?