Diego Costa has completed his return to the Premier League, joining Wolves on a free transfer. The striker was released by Brazilian side Atlético Mineiro in January this year and has been without a club since.
Wolves forked out £15.5million for striker Sasa Kalajdzic of Stuttgart on Deadline Day. Unfortunately for the Austrian International, his PL debut couldn’t have gone worse. He was substituted at halftime with what seemed to be a knee niggle at the time. However, Wolves confirmed shortly afterwards that Kalajdzic had suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury which is likely to see him sidelined for the best part of a year.
Wolves were in dire need of attacking reinforcements as Mexican International Raul Jimenez is also suffering from injury that saw him miss last weekend’s home win against Southampton.
Diego Costa completed his move to the Midlands club on the weekend having passed his medical. However, the transfer took longer to materialize than initially expected due to work permit issues with the new Brexit regulations. The Brazilian-born Spanish International was initially denied a work permit after failing to meet the new points criteria.
The verdict was challenged by Wolves who appealed through the FA. The decision was eventually overturned and the 33-year-old was allowed to be registered, given he passed all medical tests.
Costa has an excellent PL record, scoring 52 goals and laying on a further 16 assists in just 89 appearances across three seasons. The striker, notoriously known for his aggressive style and ability to wind up defenders, was a huge part of Chelsea’s title-winning side in 2014/2015 under José Mourinho and in 2016/2017 under Antonio Conte. Although Costa may be past his prime, Wolves’ style of play suggests he will do a solid job for Bruno Lage’s side. Wolves fans should, for the very least, be excited to see the Chelsea legend return to the Premier League simply for his skill in the dark arts of football, and his boxoffice nature.