All the signs this summer are pointing towards a spectacular return to the Premier League for Diego Costa.
The Spain international has been linked to Wolves, West Ham and Everton in this transfer window, but there has been a lot of scepticism around whether or not the 30-year-old can still cut it at the highest level.
Indeed, he has gone through one of the worst goalscoring spells of his career as he hit just two goals in 16 La Liga appearances last term, but he still may be worth taking a punt on.
Costa clearly doesn’t work at Simeone’s Atletico, but that may be a fault in their system rather than the striker losing his touch.
This is a team which is very successful despite not having much offensive output. They average just 4.2 shots on target per game, so their strikers are feeding off of scraps most of the time.
Costa’s personal stats show the entire story. He averaged just one shot per game last season, with only 0.7 of those coming within the eighteen-yard-box, compare this to his time at Chelsea where he averaged 3.2 shots per game in his last season with 2.3 of those coming from inside the penalty area.
The 30-year-old’s finishing instincts haven’t faded, but being placed in a team which rarely creates chances hasn’t helped his cause.
Compare this to Everton, their top scorer last season was Richarlison, and he managed to take 2.4 shots per game.
Despite Atletico being the more successful team in recent years, it’s easy to see that Everton are much stronger in terms of chance creation as they average more shots per game as well as more shots on target per game.
Costa could rediscover his form upon his return to English football, and for that reason, he is a gamble worth taking for Marco Silva’s side.