The Diego Costa saga, the football soap opera of all football soap operas, is finally over. He’s getting what he wants and going back to Atletico Madrid. Chelsea get what they want, as they can now move on from this giant distraction. The club released a statement a very short time ago, and it reads:
“Chelsea Football Club has today agreed terms with Atletico Madrid for the transfer of Diego Costa. The transfer will be subject to the agreement of personal terms and a medical.”
Of course, Costa won’t be able to play until January, given Atletico’s current transfer ban in place.
The Daily Mail have the monetary amount for the transfer of the striker outcasted at Stamford Bridge:
“According to Spanish newspaper AS, Costa, who cost Chelsea £32million, is expected to be unveiled as an Atletico player in the coming days. A fee in the region of £53m plus bonuses is to be paid to the Premier League champions.”
Diego Costa leaves behind a very complicated legacy at Chelsea FC. His relationship with now former manager Antonio Conte turned so ugly that it once seemed like lawyers would have to be called in to resolve this workplace dispute. Costa, a player who is in that rare air of polarizing figures (like a Luis Suarez or a Marouane Fellaini) also had grievances with the previous manager Jose Mourinho; he even once threw a bib at him during a game.
With all that baggage though came a guy that could really play however. He made 120 appearances for Chelsea, starting 109 times. He scored 59 goals for the Blues, 52 of them in Premier League play. He made 89 league appearances for the club scoring 20 goals in a season twice.
Those two seasons also resulted in a league title for Chelsea (2014-15, 2016-17), so despite the problems he often posed, the man can really score and help a team win big.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now and Minute Media. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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