As transfer speculation links Chelsea with targeting a new striker, it’s worth noting that they’ve never really found a replacement for Diego Costa.
Even though Diego Costa only played at Chelsea for three seasons, he created history between 2014 and 2017 at Stamford Bridge.
The former Blues centre-forward was so difficult for opposition teams to defend against because of his bullish style. He tormented Premier League defences for a few seasons, winning the title twice.
Appearances Goals Assists Trophies
120 59 21 3
Diego Costa’s record as a Chelsea player
Chelsea can afford a ‘major acquisition’ in the striker position in the upcoming summer transfer window. Hopefully, they can finally find a replacement for Costa eight years down the line. There are players that have lead the line well for the Blues in recent years, but the Costa void still hasn’t properly been filled.
Photo by Harry Engels/Getty Images
Photo by Harry Engels/Getty Images
Diego Costa once broke his nose in Chelsea training incident with Fikayo Tomori
At a certain time in Chelsea’s history, it felt like so many players picked up facial injuries and had to wear protective masks in games.
Costa broke his nose in a training incident back in 2016, so had to play a few Chelsea games in a mask.
Guus Hiddink, who was the interim Blues manager, explained in February 2016 that Costa suffered the injury after an accidental clash with youngster Fikayo Tomori.
Hiddink said via The Guardian: “Diego got into a duel and had his nose broken. It was not a tough duel but he put his nose on the back of the kid’s head. He was very unlucky and his nose was broken.”
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Tomori, who had stepped up from the academy to the first team for training, inadvertently injured the senior forward.
In October 2019, the defender recalled the incident with Costa, where he didn’t find out that he had broken his nose until he saw it in the papers.
Tomori said via The Telegraph: “I was actually still in school and I didn’t know I had done it in training. It was an accident, we both went up for a header and I had to flick the ball backwards and he tried to score. He headed the back of my head and he broke his nose. I didn’t know I had done it until the next day when it was all over the papers.”
Tomori did go on and make a first-team breakthrough after coming through the Chelsea academy. In fact, he made 27 senior appearances for the Blues, with the majority of them coming under Frank Lampard’s management.
Despite the fact he was linked with coming back to Stamford Bridge in January, Tomori wasn’t interested in a Chelsea return.
Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Where are Diego Costa and Fikayo Tomori now?
Costa, now 36, is currently a free agent without a club.
He’s had spells in the Brazilian league with Gremio and Botafogo in the last couple of years, but the last time he played in Europe was with Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2023.
Costa ranks eight in the list of Chelsea’s greatest strikers, which is a testament to the amount of quality forwards that have played for the club over the years.
As for Tomori, he’s still at the San Siro with AC Milan after joining them directly from Chelsea in 2021.
The 27-year-old central defender has had some good spells in Italian football with Milan, but he’s made 25 appearances across all competitions this season because he’s been in and out of the starting XI.