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Introduction
Diego Costa is a professional footballer who currently plays as a striker for the Spanish club Atlético Madrid in La Liga. He played an integral role in helping Chelsea win the Premier League in 2014 scoring 27 goals. After being granted Spanish citizenship, he has played for Spain in the 2014 FIFA World Cup as well.
Early Life
Costa was born on October 7, 1988, in Lagarto, Sergipe, Brazil. He is actually named after the Argentine legend Diego Maradona. He came from a poor family where he grew up playing street football but never had a strong desire to pursue football professionally as such resources never were present for him.
Because of money problems, he moved to Sao Paulo in order to start working in his uncle’s store. It is also his uncle to have first made the move for him to become a member of Barcelona Esportiva Capela. This is where it all started for Costa professionally as he also started earning a small salary to support himself there. He had a reputation for playing dirty even back then. However, his style of play attracted the yes of Jorge Mendes, the super agent who overlooks many top footballers today.
With Mendes’ recommendation for signing with Braga, Costa finally agreed towards this decision and signed officially on February 2006. After a short loan stint, Costa signed with Atletico Madrid on July 10, 2007. The club’s President even called him the “New Kaka”.
Career
He played well for the club but at the same time had the reputation for misbehaving among team’s and playing aggressively. Despite these problems, there was no doubt in the ability that he had and the club recognized it very well. He played for a year at Real Valladolid after which he came back to Atletico as a backup to Sergio Aguero and Diego Forlan who were the first picks at the time.
After Aguero got injured, Costa was given the chance to play as a first team player. He became a regular starter as then manager Quique Sánchez Flores preferred him in matches ahead of Forlan because of the physicality that he possessed. He had a successful season that year. However, the next season of 2011-12 was one to forget for him as a major knee injury saw him miss the majority of the season.
He then had a brief loan spell at Rayo Vallecano where he scored 10 goals in his 16 appearances. He would prove an important asset to Atletico in the latter seasons. He was joint top scorer alongside Cristiano Ronaldo in the Copa Del Rey. In August 2013, he was heavily linked with a move to Liverpool, who allegedly matched his release clause of €25 million and offered him huge salary as compared to Atletico. This was a time when Costa had already proven that he was a worthy player. However, he rather stayed at Atletico with a better contract.
The 2013-14 season was also a great season for him as he helped Atletico Madrid reach the final of the Champions League. However, he had a final to forget as he had to come off after just 16 minutes because of a serious hamstring injury. At the season’s LFP Awards, he was nominated for the league’s Best Forward, losing out to Cristiano Ronaldo.
In July 1, 2014, Costa signed with Chelsea for £32 million, which was his buy out clause. The contract ran for 5 years with a weekly wage of £150,000 a week. He made a huge impact in his very first season as he was the most impressive player in the season scoring more than 20 goals in a very competitive league. That year, they won the Premier League along with the League Cup, which was a dream start for him. In the coming seasons he did score goals but he had a lot of controversies as well which resulted in bans that kept him out of action.
Costa’s relationship with manager Conte fell sour in early 2017 which meant that he was in search of a new club. He eventually signed with Atletico again and became eligible to play from January 1, 2018. So far his second stint has been a good one in terms of his performances.
Diego Costa Net Worth
According to Celebrity Net Worth, he has an estimated net worth of $40 million. Such a high net worth is mainly because of the high wages that he had at Atletico and then at Chelsea with his earning £150,000 a week at Chelsea. Such high wages made him one of the best paid in the league at the time. There are also bonuses and endorsement deals worth millions, the details of which are not made public.
Personal Life
Costa is a great player but his habit of misbehaving and being aggressive on the pitch has landed him in trouble several times. He has had fall outs with many of his own teammates and coaches including Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte.
French newspaper L’Equipe named Costa as the most hated footballer in December 2015, based on his provocative and violent behavior. Some injuries, including a recurring hamstring problem have also seen him miss crucial moments in his career.
