Rio Ferdinand and Joleon Lescott have are both unsure whether or not Chelsea icon Diego Costa has still got it in him to deliver in the Premier League for Wolves amid Man City game snub.
The 33-year-old was signed on a short-term deal to compensate for the huge loss the Molineux clubs suffered with their big summer addition Sasa Kalajdzic, who injured his ACL in the 1-0 Southampton win. The Austrian striker has undergone surgery on his knee and is already on a long journey to recovery. There has been no timeframe on his full recovery but the emergency signing of the twice Premier League winner suggests that the tall number 9 will not be back in contention for quite a while.
This, therefore, gives the former Spain International a chance to make his second bout in the English top flight, having racked up a total of 82 goal contributions in the colours of Chelsea spanning over 120 appearances. unfortunately for Bruno Lage, who waxed lyrical on his new acquisitions potential to hit the ground running, the Man City clash came a little too early for the Atletico Mineiro title winner. Costa was left out completely from the squad that was selected by Lage for the visit of Pep Guardiola's side and the Portuguese boss would have wished that Kalajdzic's short-term replacement would have been ready for this early Premier League kick-off with his side falling two goals behind in 30 minutes courtesy of goals from Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland.
READ MORE: Diego Costa responds to Eden Hazard's Chelsea remark and makes Wolves Premier League admission
Despite the outcome of the game itself, the topic of conversation pre-match centred around just how the two times Premier League Champions will settle back into the top flight and despite both Ferdinand and Lescott remaining unsure about this experiment, one of the punditry pair identified a unique Chelsea strength which could help Costa gain the advantage of the defenders he faces in this modern game.
Ferdinand kicked off: "It all depends. If he comes in and scores a goal, confidence is up. He can be really impactive in a game for 45 minutes. The way he plays, he’s aggressive, he gets amongst people, he has to play with emotion and he wants to get under the skin of defenders. With him. I think it’ll be very much about goals. Getting goals, getting confidence, then he’ll motor on from there. It’s vitally important for this Wolves squad that he does hit the ground running."
"I doubt he’ll be as impactful as regular as he was for Chelsea, but there’s going to be moments in games where Wolves need him," the former Aston Villa centre-back added. "I played against him a few times and he gives as much as he gets. I don’t think defenders nowadays are used to rough and tumble of strikers wanting to foul, so that can be a different aspect for them."
Chelsea fans- Could Diego Costa cause defenders like Virgil Van Dijk and Lisandro Martinez problems or do you think he is past it? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below!
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