Why Atletico Madrid Should Not Go Big to Land Chelsea's Diego Costa
Diego Costa was one of Atletico Madrid's main stars as they won La Liga and made the UEFA Champions League final in 2013/14 before departing for Chelsea shortly afterward.
The Brazilian-born Spain international has since alternately enjoyed and endured his time in England, with reports continually linking him with a move back to the Vicente Calderon, especially after Atleti's president, Enrique Cerezo, told Cadena Cope they were considering the situation back in February (h/t Sky Sports).
It's not an easy call to make in deciding whether the Spanish club would be well-served by re-signing their former forward, with plenty of factors tipping the scales in both directions.
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The Argument 'For'
After an initial settling spell, some loan moves away and finally figuring out what his best role was, Diego Costa came to prominence with Atletico in 2012/13, scoring 10 goals in La Liga and 20 in all competitions as he provided an aggressive foil to goalscoring machine Radamel Falcao.
Costa was the outlet for the team, worked the channels brilliantly and helped out defensively right the width of the pitch. The season after, he played as the main striker and did much the same but added even more goals, 36 in total.
It's clear he knows the system and the tactics demanded by Diego Simeone and would have few problems re-adapting to those if he were to return.
In addition to the forward's tactical knowledge, Simeone values the physicality and mentality Costa offers.
More than anything, though, Atletico have lacked a source of regular goals this season beyond Antoine Griezmann. Jackson Martinez failed abjectly in this regard and has already been shipped out, while Angel Correa and Luciano Vietto still need more time to find consistency.
Costa has 15 goals this season and scored 20 last term as the centre-forward in a 4-2-3-1 system.
The Case 'Against'
Again, it's a mixed bag.
Costa has scored more than Atletico's non-French forwards this season, yes, but not a huge total. He has also been part of an underperforming team, yet he would still likely cost a Jackson-esque figure of £30 million to £40 million to sign back. For that fee, there are others Atletico could target with a higher goalscoring rate over the last year or two.
At 27 years of age, Costa should also be expected to begin tailing off from his top form within two or three seasons. He is already at, or past, his peak—even Simeone wouldn't be able to eke out anything additional.
Missing games is also a consideration. The only Premier League fixtures Costa had missed this season up until two weeks ago were through suspension, costing him four matches so far, and one game for which he was left on the bench in a 0-0 draw. Last term, though, he missed another four through suspension plus eight games out injured.
And in his final season at Atletico? Four games were missed through suspension: one in La Liga, two in the Champions League and one in the Copa del Rey.
There's the feeling this Atletico team has moved on somewhat from the side Costa played in.
While some faces remain, the aggressive combatants he played alongside—such as Mario Suarez, Raul Garcia, Miranda and Arda Turan—have mostly departed. The current setup is a split of Simeone staples and younger talents, still tenacious but more focused on technical improvements of the team.
This isn't the Atletico that Costa starred in, and there's no guarantee he'd slot back in and take them up a level.
On a final tactical note, Atletico need to decide how Griezmann will be best used: as the striker—the goalscorer and the furthest forward, pacy outlet—or as the support forward, playing just off the top line and free to find space, link play and attack from deep, something he does extremely well.
He will inevitably do both during the course of the season, but whereas he plays the top role with Vietto, he would play the deeper role if Costa were his partner.
Regeneration
Atletico's previous need to sell big to buy new players to play catch-up on Real Madrid and Barcelona no longer applies.
They were just a few points off Barcelona until recently, beating them to the title two seasons ago, and they're comfortably better than Real Madrid in terms of cohesive tactical plan, stability, squad depth and, most importantly, higher in the table.
What Atletico do not need is to go backward, reverting to type in the hope it reignites successes from two seasons ago rather than continuing, as they have done since then, to look forward, regenerate the team and grow.
Finding their own new ideal forward to not just score goals and fit into the team ethos but also complement Griezmann, allowing him to roam freely and find pockets of space as he does so well, is a big job for the summer and arguably Atletico's top priority.
It shouldn't be Costa, though, with other potential signings capable of offering all the Chelsea man's best traits with fewer of his worst ones and maybe even more goals into the bargain.
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