Diego Costa – Criminal or Victim?

Now I know what you might think. Silly question, right?

The fact of the matter is that this has been one of the more poisonous stories of the summer… something not helped by the fact it has dragged on for months. So who is in the wrong?

If you take Costa’s word, it started with a text after the celebrations had died down, a totally unexpected and unwarranted reward for helping his team to the title with 20 league goals. One cold-blooded text from his manager telling him he was surplus to requirements at Chelsea.

Now Costa assured the media that this text out-of-the-blue made him powerless to Conte’s wishes. Had he kept a say in the matter, he would have undoubtedly stayed at Chelsea, where he was happy.

Notably, Diego Costa has been a key player at Chelsea since his arrival for £32 million in 2014, and alongside Cesc Fabregas, has won 2 Premier League titles in 3 years.

It is very easy to imagine that without his contribution, Chelsea would not have been so successful - in fact his goals earned Chelsea more points than any other Premier League scorer last season.

The nature of the message, if rumours are to be believed, also support Costa’s claim. One text message to the player who has arguably contributed most to the team’s success. Would a call thanking him for his service, but outlining why he was no longer needed have been too much hassle? As ruthless as Conte might be, I imagine he may regret that now if he’d known the message was going to be shown to the world.

So maybe Costa has a point?

One thing that immediately undermines Costa’s claims are the events in January. He seemed on the verge of a move to China before finally staying at Chelsea. Rumours of a return to Atletico also never seemed to disappear. Maybe Costa’s stance here was what prompted the message from Conte in the first place.The crux of the issue came when Atletico’s trade ban was upheld, and Chinese Football Authorities had a new tax law introduced…

Fast forward a bit, Diego Costa has managed the following:

• ·         Posting a video celebrating in an Atletico Madrid shirt.
• ·         Promising to never play for Chelsea again.
• ·         Refusing to return for preseason training.
• ·         Telling the media on multiple occasions Chelsea are asking too much money for him.

Now if he had done one of these, you could MAYBE excuse it as a reaction to Conte’s supposed text. But after being guilty of all of these crimes, it seems impossible to see Costa as a victim.

More importantly, the sheer lack of professional conduct should worry any potential suitors for the player. When everything that passes in private communication between a club and player is aired as dirty laundry for the world to see… well how can a buying club be sure the same won’t happen? Especially with someone as volatile as Diego Costa.

It has even come to the point that Gabi, Atletico Madrid’s Captain and likely a good friend of our victim in question, has publicly stated the player should have more respect for his contracted club’s badge, regardless of what the future holds.

Football fans around the world were shocked by the open nature of Dimitri Payet’s situation, and an individual’s refusal to do his job (one which he is paid ridiculously well for), in spite of fans who loved him and the small matter of a contract.

However, Diego Costa has managed to surpass others once again. In the first half of the season he did it on the pitch, with scintillating displays which left pundits pinning Chelsea’s title ambitions to their ability to keep him at the club, and asking if he was the best striker in Europe. In the second half of the summer, and especially as the transfer window draws to a close, he has left fans wondering something altogether different… 

How will Chelsea ever get rid of him, and which club in their right mind would take him??