Chelsea Must Trust Depth and Fix Diego Costa Injury ASAP

Clearly, something very special is brewing at Stamford Bridge this season. Jose Mourinho has infamously won a league championship in his second season in charge of Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid in the past.

The odds on that feat happening again with the Blues are shortening by the day—but there is a niggling issue with one of Mourinho's stars that just doesn't seem to go away.

Diego Costa has been a revelation since arriving in the Premier League, but his injury issues are starting to become a real concern for Chelsea fans. He missed Sunday's draw at Old Trafford against Manchester United and, it has now been revealed that he may need surgery on his troublesome hamstring problem. Kyle Bonn of NBC Sports' Pro Soccer Talk has the line:

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Neil Ashton, Daily Mail journalist and NBC Sports insider, revealed on NBCSN’s Premier League Live that Diego Costa‘s hamstring injury will eventually need to be operated on.

That would keep him out of action for approximately six weeks. But he doesn’t need to have it now.

At this moment, Chelsea are nursing Costa’s cranky hamstring through the season, leaving his status for each upcoming match in question and making things completely uncertain as the season goes on.

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Although that technically means Costa could be available for any—if not most—of Chelsea's remaining fixtures this season, we all know that will far from be the way things pan out.

Chelsea have a dilemma on when to send Costa under the knife, but in reality, they should be attempting to do it as soon as humanly possible for a number of reasons.

For starters, this is not the Chelsea of last season. Attacking threat is clearly not as much of an issue as it was 12 months ago during Mourinho's first season in charge. That was proven on Sunday, when Didier Drogba showed he still has the ability to score big goals by grabbing the opener at Old Trafford.

But there isn't just the Ivorian. Loic Remy, too, has shown glimpses of what he can do, and despite picking up an injury himself against Maribor, he will be fit much quicker than Costa will. Mourinho has goals in the midfield, too—which should convince him that now is the time to get Costa in for surgery, not two or three months down the line.

Jon Super/Associated Press

Consider where Chelsea are in terms of their season, too. Four points clear at the top of the Premier League, having only dropped four points so far. They're also five points clear of third placed Maribor in their Champions League group, too.

Beat Maribor next week in Slovenia, and the likelihood will be that Chelsea will have qualified with two games to spare. It is unlikely they will finish second, meaning that an easier tie (relatively speaking) in the first knockout round is assured, too.

Getting Costa fixed up now means that he will be back just before Christmas—which is the time when things really start to heat up for teams chasing glory on multiple fronts. The Blues enter the FA Cup in the New Year—a tournament Mourinho has affection and history with.

Where would be the value in sending Costa in for surgery just as the big games start to roll around? Surely by doing it now, they will benefit much more in the long run.

Chelsea's fixture list over the next six weeks is far from daunting, too. Without trying to do an injustice to any particular teams, games against QPR, West Brom, Sunderland and Newcastle should hardly present the Blues with too many problems if they remain on form.

With the possibility of Chelsea being able to carefully nurse Costa through the remainder of the season, it will be tempting for them to resist the surgery option that is clearly available. But as Costa trains less and less, and misses more and more games, Chelsea may just end up missing a trick if they don't strike while the iron is red hot.