When you think of Brazilian footballers, it’s the likes of Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, or more recently Neymar that spring to mind. Players raised on the street, who possess the flair and flamboyance that other nations just can’t seem to produce. The first part of that sentence is also true about Atlético Madrid forward Diego Costa, heavily linked this week with a move to Anfield. However, in terms of style he can only be described as more street fighter than street artist, having earned quite the reputation recently for his highly combative approach.
We’ve witnessed the madness of Luis Suárez, Craig Bellamy, El-Hadji Diouf in recent years, but some of Costa’s antics go a long way to eclipsing even them. Unconventional to the very core, he is not a player who was raised via the academy route, learning solely from the streets of his homeland before making the move to Europe at the age of 17. “On the pitch I fought with everyone, I couldn’t control myself. I insulted everyone, I had no respect for the opposition, I thought I had to kill them,” is how he put it in a recent interview, and he doesn’t over-exaggerate.
You would struggle to believe he is only 24, but his route into top level football makes it all the more surprising. Costa originally joined Atlético back in January 2007 from Portuguese side Braga, coming with little expectations and as a completely unknown quantity. To put it frankly, nobody had ever heard of him, and his failure to hold an EU-passport meant he couldn’t be registered with the squad, instead farmed out to teams such as Albacete, Celta Vigo and Real Valladolid year after year. By the time his parent club had won the Europa League in 2010 he had more or less been forgotten about, but was quietly enjoying a solid first campaign in La Liga that eventually saw him given his first shot at the Vicente Calderón, three and a half years after joining. Florent Sinama-Pongolle, another name who will be familiar to Reds fans, had been sold after a run of disastrous form, and so Costa was promoted to back-up striker.
The early impressions weren’t good though, and upon beginning training under Quique Sánchez Flores, he was deemed unfit and overweight following his summer holidays. After an unspectacular campaign, he then turned up five days late for pre-season the next year, having gone AWOL back home in Brazil and failing to respond to the club’s attempts to contact him. To compound things, he suffered a serious knee injury just a few weeks later, which would see him ruled out of action until new year at least. His future in the Spanish capital looked bleak to say the least and given his track record, nobody was holding their breath on him making a full return to fitness any time soon.
However, it was during his spell out that something appeared to change in Costa. He worked hard during the rehabilitation process, and was back in training by mid-January, well before the provisional estimates. However, Atlético had filled all of their non-EU spots so he again couldn’t be registered and faced the familiar fate of yet another loan move, made to link up with the likes of Michu, Piti and Raúl Tamudo at cross-town neighbours Rayo Vallecano. This time Costa flourished, taking no time at all to get over his injury, even heading the winner off the bench away to Zaragoza in his first game back. 10 goals in 16 games were enough to keep Rayo in the division, and his form caught the eye of new Atleti boss Diego Simeone, who gave him another shot with the Colchoneros the following year.
With no money for new signings, Costa took it upon himself to be the new star acquisition, and soon became one of the club’s most important players with a string of lung-busting performances and important goals, most notably in the cup. In just 8 months, he had gone from something of a joke figure to cult hero, finding the net 20 times in all competitions and earning his first call-up and appearance for the Brazil squad. His partnership with star striker Radamel Falcao also came to great fruition despite not being the easiest on the eye, as Costa’s hard work, non-stop movement and insistence to fight and battle for every ball helped make the Colombian’s job easier, and freed up space in front of goal for him to do what he does best.
Atleti enjoyed their best season in nearly two decades with Costa playing a key role, and in May, the 24 year-old cemented his place in history with the equalising goal in their Copa del Rey final win, which began a famous comeback against Real Madrid in the Bernabéu to end a 14-year drought against their eternal rivals. His crucial first-half strike also edged him ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo in the ‘Pichichi’ (top scorer) stakes, firing past Diego López after a delightful through ball from Falcao for goal number eight of the cup campaign. It turned out to be his much-heralded strike partner’s last meaningful contribution in a red and white shirt before moving on to Monaco, paving the way for the Brazilian to take his place as the main man in attack. Or maybe not?
As you will know, last week news circulated across the British media that Costa had been subject to a £22m bid from Liverpool. Suggestions were that such an offer would be enough to trigger his release clause at Atlético, with all indications pointing towards him becoming the Merseyside club’s marquee summer signing. Whether the transfer does still go through or not remains to be seen, but as long as he were to join as a compliment to Luís Suárez rather than a replacement, it is a move that would make a lot of sense from the English club’s perspective.
In brief, Costa is a player made for the rough and tumble of the Premier League. Big, strong, fast and powerful, he is someone who loves to put himself about and get in amongst it. What separates him from your Andy Carroll or John Carew type though is that in his mind, he isn’t a centre-forward, and as he said himself earlier in the year, doesn’t feel comfortable up front. When moving to Spain he was seen as an attacking midfielder, and will always tend to drop deep or out wide to get involved with play. His pace and strength make him a highly effective dribbler, and his never say die attitude, coupled with a dosage of Brazilian flair and invention, culminate in a lot of chances created both for himself and teammates. He is not a selfish player and is capable of linking up well both wide the midfield and attack, and formed an especially effective understanding with teammate Koke in the past season. Costa assisted all three of the young midfielder’s goals in 2012/13, with the Spanish U21 international provider of an incredible 8 of his 10 league strikes.
Recently he has shown that he can perform to his best on a consistent basis, but, like with Suárez, there is an ugly side to his game too. Costa’s disciplinary problems have been highlighted by many, and is something that strangely seems to have become more of a concern parallel to his rise to form. A self-confessed provocateur, he loves winding up opposition players and will take it to the extremes, with incidences of spitting, play-acting, stamping, joke-making and ear-flicking all having been reported (and that was just in the Madrid derby). It can work in his favour but has made him public enemy number one at most away grounds, which in England we can be sure would be picked up on and heavily scrutinised by the fans and press. He will feel particularly unwelcome in Sevilla’s Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, where, in addition to scoring one and assisting another in Atlético’s cup semi-final win last February, he played a large part in red cards to Gary Medel, much to the Chilean’s disbelief after some interesting dramatics, and Geoffrey Kondogbia, who accused Costa of making monkey noises aimed at him during the match. That is something that Liverpool, for obvious reasons, could do without, although it was an isolated incident and was never proved, nor was any action taken.
There are issues surrounding his composure in front of goal as well, and for me he lacks the confidence that strikers like Falcao or David Villa have in abundance. As touched upon above, he is more than capable of getting in the positions and making chances for himself, but often takes too long or cannot find the finish, resulting in a lot of his good work going to waste. People will point to stats regarding his conversion rate but there are times when he will go through on goal and take too long, not even getting a shot away, distorting those figures quite a bit. The main problem is that when playing as the main striker he just doesn’t pose the threat of being able to score at any moment, which perhaps stops him from gaining more plaudits and moving to the next level. However, it is something that can always be worked on and if he does become more cold-blooded, he could easily be a 30+ goal a season man.
But why Liverpool? Costa is comfortable in Madrid, and Atlético will probably feel that he owes them a little after actively sticking by him for over six years now, but sometimes players have to take the chances that come up. He will know that he has the potential to blossom in England, and also raise his profile in the world of football by playing in front of a much bigger audience every week. Brendan Rodgers’ side have a lot more resources and long-term plans than his current employers, and although he would have to give up Champions League football for the year, it could be for his long-term benefit. Of course, he would earn much more in England than he ever could at Atleti too, and I haven’t even touched on the Jorge Mendes factor yet (although that’s a story for another day).
Paying £22m is a risk in any context, but for a player of his calibre and potential, it could turn out to be a masterstroke. Whether he joins to play alongside up with Suárez, replaces the Uruguayan or indeed does stay in the Spanish capital, expect fireworks, in one way or another. Remember the fee that Liverpool bought Suarez for…
