Diego Costa

Diego da Silva Costa is a Spanish forward of Brazilian descent. He was born in 1988 in Lagarto, Brazil, and started at Barcelona Esportivo Capela and professional playing career began at the Portuguese Sporting de Braga reserves in February 2006. In summer he moved to F.C. Penafiel on a loan deal and in winter joined Atlético Madrid for €1.5m and 50% of the player’s rights. Costa was immediately loaned to Braga for the reminder of the season and scored his first and winning goal at the UEFA Cup match against Parma FC, ended in 1-0 victory.

For the next two seasons he was loaned to Celta de Vigo and then to Albacete Balompié. The 2009/10 season Costa spent with Real Valladolid but at the end of campaign the club was relegated and the Brazilian moved to Atlético Madrid. There he was Sergio Agüero and Diego Forlán’s backup at the beginning of the season but under the guidance of Quique Flores he became a starter.

Due to a knee injury Costa missed the major part of the 2011/12 season and the period from January till June he spent on loan to Rayo Vallecano. Having returned from loan, Diego turned into Atleico’s key striker and notched 64 goals in 135 matches for The Colchoneros.

After winning the La Liga title in the season 2013/2014, Costa lured attention from European top clubs and Chelsea activated his £32m buy-out clause.

Diego Costa was called up by Brazil national team, but refused to play for his motherland, opting to take Spanish citizenship and represent La Furia Roja. In 2014 he made his debut at 2014 World Cup, but failed to make an impact.