Diego Costa

[Polo7 3,496]

Oh - I thought there was a rule that once you had played for a national team - your choice was made? Is that not true?

It is true. Once a competitive match has been played Im sure you cant change allegiances.

[Hamilton 2,120]

Oh - I thought there was a rule that once you had played for a national team - your choice was made? Is that not true?

He means, if Costa did choose brazil and didn't get selected this wc..

[Barbara 15,149]

Won't be far behind believe me.

Hopefully it'll work better than you asking us to believe you Rooney was coming because you had sources?

Sorry, man, but I had a few laughs reading your reports last year, even including someone you knew meeting Maureen in the grocery store or something confirming the transfer that we're still waiting to happen.

I only trust @We Hate Scouse sources as he's been 100% accurate in his reports

[The Skipper 20,593]

Duncan Castles had an interview with DC:

Diego Costa's decision to leave new Spanish champions Atletico Madrid for English football was motivated by a desire to represent "one of the greatest clubs in the world".

Jose Mourinho's Chelsea have agreed to meet the centre forward's release clause - in a deal that, including agents' fees, will cost them £35 million - and struck personal terms that will make him one of their best-paid players.

"Why would I have chosen to play for Chelsea? It is a thing that is about to happen," Costa told Goal. "Things are going in a direction and, if they keep going as they are going, it is the team I will play for in the next season.

"I've wanted to play in the Premier League for a while. Chelsea are one of the greatest clubs of the world so there are many factors that make you take a decision like this."

Part of the Brazilian's attraction to the Blues boss is his physically domineering and unconventional style, partially a product of spending his teenage years outside the academies of that nation's academy systems. He first represented a top-tier European side as an 18-year-old, having been signed by Sporting Braga's then-technical director Eladio Parames, a close friend of Mourinho.

He subsequently bounced around Portuguse and Spanish club football, joining Penafiel, Celta Vigo, Albacete, Valladolid, Rayo Vallecano and Atletico Madrid on either full transfers or loans. Only in his past two seasons in the Spanish capital did he reach double figures in goals scored, concluding with a spectacular haul of 36 from 52 appearances as Atleti won the title.

The 25-year-old is cautious about affirming expectations that his playing style is ideally suited to English football. "Every year is a different story, nothing is easy in life," he says. "I will have to work a lot to fit in with the style of the Premier League."

The striker was roundly booed by Brazilian spectators as he made his World Cup debut for Spain in Salvador, a city less than 300 kilometres from his birthplace, on Friday. He won Spain's penalty in the 5-1 defeat and declared himself unaffected by verbal abuse querying his sexuality.

"In Spain it happens to me in every stadium I play so I'm pretty much accustomed to it," Costa observed. "I had my right of choice so it's the same for the public, they have the right to choose to boo me. When you are on the pitch you don't think about those things. I saw it coming, I knew it was going to happen so I had my head ready for that."

The forward also countered suggestions that his Spanish team-mates had been affected by the continual cat-calling. "From [last year's] Confederations Cup, they knew that here in Brazil the relation of Spain with the fans was a bit complicated," he argued. "They knew they wouldn't have the support of the public.

"It was a tough loss [but] a match like this happens here and then. There is a positive side which is that we still have a chance so we have to keep our heads up because there are two finals to be played. There is nothing better than a next match to try to forget this one."

This bit is particularly interesting:

"Part of the Brazilian's attraction to the Blues boss is his physically domineering and unconventional style, partially a product of spending his teenage years outside the academies of that nation's academy systems. He first represented a top-tier European side as an 18-year-old, having been signed by Sporting Braga's then-technical director Eladio Parames, a close friend of Mourinho."

[Muzchap 8,966]

Duncan Castles had an interview with DC:

This bit is particularly interesting:

"Part of the Brazilian's attraction to the Blues boss is his physically domineering and unconventional style, partially a product of spending his teenage years outside the academies of that nation's academy systems. He first represented a top-tier European side as an 18-year-old, having been signed by Sporting Braga's then-technical director Eladio Parames, a close friend of Mourinho."

It's almost like another Didier

[LAB 1,030]

The 25-year-old is cautious about affirming expectations that his playing style is ideally suited to English football. "Every year is a different story, nothing is easy in life," he says. "I will have to work a lot to fit in with the style of the Premier League."

That means don't expect instant adaptation, and don't start screaming in forums that i am Torres v2.0 if i don't net a goal in the first couple of matches.

[Peppen 934]

The 25-year-old is cautious about affirming expectations that his playing style is ideally suited to English football. "Every year is a different story, nothing is easy in life," he says. "I will have to work a lot to fit in with the style of the Premier League."

That means don't expect instant adaptation, and don't start screaming in forums that i am Torres v2.0 if i don't net a goal in the first couple of matches.

Which should be self-explanatory, really. I am fully expecting the Torres fanboy/girl club to go all out with their 'Torres works hard and deserves a chance, the system doesn't fit him, remember that corner in Munich?' campaign if he doesn't score every game. It is bound to happen, sadly.

[MrBlueGuy 1,552]

The 25-year-old is cautious about affirming expectations that his playing style is ideally suited to English football. "Every year is a different story, nothing is easy in life," he says. "I will have to work a lot to fit in with the style of the Premier League."

That means don't expect instant adaptation, and don't start screaming in forums that i am Torres v2.0 if i don't net a goal in the first couple of matches.

By Christmas I expect him to be on 10 goals minimum to justify his transfer fee and reputation.

[LAB 1,030]

By Christmas I expect him to be on 10 goals minimum to justify his transfer fee and reputation.

If you feel you must put a number there 10 is indeed a good one, but on the other hand i don't like to put thresholds when not even knowing basic elements about the context of half of the next season (our ins and outs, styles of play Jose is willing to try etc...) = too early for that imo.

[MrBlueGuy 1,552]

If you feel you must put a number there 10 is indeed a good one, but on the other hand i don't like to put thresholds when not even knowing basic elements about the context of half of the next season (our ins and outs, styles of play Jose is willing to try etc...) = too early for that imo.

Well if he is truly great he will hit the ground running straight away in his new team like Aguero,Suarez,RVP...etc. I really don't want people to start giving him excuses such as not adapting aka Torres so he will have at least 1 season being shit 1st before he becomes good. It has gotten to the point where our strikers SHOULD BE up there with golden boots candidates, cannot just use strikers who score around 10-15 goals per season max.

[LAB 1,030]

Well if he is truly great he will hit the ground running straight away in his new team like Aguero,Suarez,RVP...etc. I really don't want people to start giving him excuses such as not adapting aka Torres so he will have at least 1 season being shit 1st before he becomes good. It has gotten to the point where our strikers SHOULD BE up there with golden boots candidates, cannot just use strikers who score around 10-15 goals per season max.

Well, scoring some specific amount of goals by the end of Xmas is one thing and being shit for a complete season is another. Of course if the later happens, then someone (either Jose or him) means got it completely wrong (either the way he will be utilized and the system around him, or his own ability to perform).

No one is saying we can afford to have a shitty Costa next season. But then again the debate will be over how we define a shitty season, and that cannot be answered correctly until at least some number of matches are played.

So, again, it's very early for numbers imo.

[Javi_CFC 7]

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2892/transfer-zone/2014/06/16/4886033/diego-costa-why-im-joining-chelsea?ICID=HP_HN_HP_RI_0_3

Interesting interview with Diego Costa

[AndersonBLUE 819]

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2892/transfer-zone/2014/06/16/4886033/diego-costa-why-im-joining-chelsea?ICID=HP_HN_HP_RI_0_3

Interesting interview with Diego Costa

Don't post anything from goal.com they are awful. Like really bad.

[calculatingInfinity 1,443]

Don't post anything from goal.com they are awful. Like really bad.

The skipper posted the exact article a page ago.... just without a link. Goal is the original source of it and while goal is bad, Duncan Castles is not just going to straight up make up a interview.

[laeth 527]

Don't post anything from goal.com they are awful. Like really bad.

They are unreliable for rumours, but they do get exclusive interviews and stuff. They have tried to improve their journalism quite a lot in recent years.

[Barbara 15,149]

Don't post anything from goal.com they are awful. Like really bad.

The Skipper just posted the same and everyone is taking it seriously.

I was about to say I don't believe one word, especially the paragraph The Skipper highlighted.

It's goal doing the same old thing - a lot of BS they make up. until we have a reliable source saying the same, I call it BS. They're awful.

The only thing we can believe is the direct quotes as they wouldn't make them up. But everything out of the " " I don't believe.

[The Skipper 20,593]

Don't post anything from goal.com they are awful. Like really bad.

The Skipper just posted the same and everyone is taking it seriously.

I was about to say I don't believe one word, especially the paragraph The Skipper highlighted.

It's goal doing the same old thing - a lot of BS they make up. until we have a reliable source saying the same, I call it BS. They're awful.

The only thing we can believe is the direct quotes as they wouldn't make them up. But everything out of the " " I don't believe.

Yeah, I know it's Goal but Duncan Castles is a pretty respectable journalist who basically just chose to publicise it through there (they probably paid him a lot) so I'm inclined to believe that it is all believable and well written.

Plus as laeth said above, this isn't a transfer rumour but an actual interview.

[Barbara 15,149]

Yeah, I know it's Goal but Duncan Castles is a pretty respectable journalist who basically just chose to publicise it through there (they probably paid him a lot) so I'm inclined to believe that it is all believable and well written.

Plus as laeth said above, this isn't a transfer rumour but an actual interview.

I don't know much of the journos - too many of them to keep track. Why would a credible guy publicize there? But if you say the guy is reliable then maybe we should trust everything.

They're really bad normally and I rarely remember anything they speculated to be anywhere near the truth.