Wolverhampton Wanderers completed the signing of former Chelsea striker Diego Costa on a free transfer on Monday.
The 33-year-old, who spent three years at Chelsea between 2014 and 2017, has moved to Molineux on a one-year contract following his exit from Brazilian side Atletico Mineiro at the start of this year, making Costa a free agent.
Following injuries to Raul Jimenez and a long-term ACL injury suffered by summer signing Sasa Kalajdzic on his Wolves debut, the Old Gold completed a deal for two-time Premier League winner Costa until the end of the season to help fill Bruno Lage’s side’s shortages up front.
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Costa, who scored 52 goals in 89 Premier League games for Chelsea during his three years there that saw him win the Premier League in the 2014/15 and 2016/17 seasons, is likely to be drafted into action soon by Wolves. However, his debut could come against West Ham United next month.
Wolves travel to the London Stadium on Saturday, October 1 and while that date is 19 days away, Lage’s side only have one match before then, with Wolves due to face defending Premier League champions Manchester City on Saturday afternoon.
However, it is currently unclear as to whether or not this weekend’s Premier League matches will go ahead following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday, leading to last weekend’s matches being postponed.
The Premier League are set to announce in the coming days whether this weekend’s matches will go ahead or not. If this weekend’s upcoming matches are postponed, Wolves’ next game will be their trip to the London Stadium.
Even if Wolves’ meeting with Man City goes ahead, Costa would be unlikely to feature, having confirmed after signing for the West Midlands club that he would need some time to get to fully fit after not playing a competitive match since last December.
“On a physical and psychological level, I will need two to three weeks to get back in shape but that’s normal since I haven’t done much for a while but I know that I can do it,” said Costa after completing the move.
Even if West Ham’s trip to Everton on Sunday is postponed, they will be in action before this month’s international break, heading to Denmark this week to face Silkeborg in the Europa Conference League.
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