Diego Costa returned to Stamford Bridge this weekend with Wolves and the former Chelsea man had plenty to say about Antonio Conte.
Chelsea came out on top against Wolves and ran out as 3-0 winners on the day. The result for Wolves leaves them in the relegation zone with just six points from their first nine matches.
Goals from Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic and Armando Broja were enough to wrap up the points for Graham Potter’s side.
Costa was signed for Wolves on a free transfer and he made his first start for the club against Chelsea.
The former Blues striker was a popular figure at Stamford Bridge and spent three seasons at the club. During his time there he won two Premier League titles and scored 52 Premier League goals.
The 34-year-old is notorious for his combative nature and has racked up 26 yellow cards while playing in the Premier League.
Costa finished each of his three seasons with Chelsea as the club’s top goalscorer and was a lethal marksman.
Costa claims he left Chelsea on bad terms
Upon his return to Stamford Bridge, Costa received a warm reception from the home fans and was applauded when he was subbed off.
It’s fair to say Costa didn’t leave Chelsea in the best of circumstances in 2017 as he fell out with then-Chelsea boss Conte.
Costa had plenty to say about his exit from the club at full time. He explained on ESPN: “I’ve never had a problem with the fans.
“My problem was not with the crowd, it was with that coach. I left in bad terms with that manager, I left a champion for the second time, and he didn’t count on me.
“That was nothing I could do. I had to leave. Today showed that I did not leave on bad terms with the fans.
“It’s very special. It’s the feeling that in the time that you spent here, you did good work and left good memories.
“Chelsea fans always treated me very well. I was always surprised by the way they treated me. It’s satisfying.”
Upon his exit from Stamford Bridge, Costa returned to Atletico Madrid and went on to win La Liga and the Europa League.
Chelsea haven’t had the best track record when it comes to investing in strikers, but Costa was someone who could be relied upon.
The Spanish forward was signed by Jose Mourinho and he won the Premier League title in his first season with the club.
Costa only spent one season working with Conte and the pair won the Premier League title together in 2016/17.
Wolves need a spark
Bruno Large was recently sacked by Wolves after a series of poor results.
Their main problem so far this season has been hitting the back of the net as they have only scored three goals so far. They currently rank as the Premier League’s lowest scorers and have failed to score in their last three matches.
Costa has been signed to give them an extra edge in the final third, but he has taken time to build up his fitness levels.
Scoring goals has been quite a long-standing issue for Wolves. Last season they only averaged one goal per game and Raul Jimenez finished the season as their top scorer with six goals.
Daniel Podence and Ruben Neves have been the only Wolves players to score in the Premier League this season.
They have taken an average of 11.7 shots per game, but have often struggled for cutting-edge.
Julen Lopetegui is the leading candidate to take over, following his dismissal from Sevilla.
The Spanish manager would bring a wealth of experience with him and could be just what Wolves need. He spent a total of three seasons with Sevilla and won the Europa League.
Lopetegui’s Sevilla side averaged 1.45 goals per game and he could be the man to get Wolves scoring again. Despite their lack of goals this season, Wolves do have a handful of exciting forwards within the squad.
The likes of Podence, Goncalo Guedes, Hwang Hee-Chan and Pedro Neto have all shown signs of promise.
Next up for Wolves is a home game against bottom-of-the-table Nottingham Forest, in what looks like a must-win game.