Wolves bid farewell to Diego Costa at the end of last season – and the Brazilian has now made a fantastic start to life at his new club, after leaving Botafogo recently.
Costa became quite a fans’ favourite when he signed for Wolves in September 2023, answering the club’s SOS call.
Costa was approached by Wolves after Fabio Silva had been loaned out, Sasa Kalajdzic had suffered an ACL injury, and Raul Jimenez was struggling with his fitness.
It took a few months for Costa to get up to speed, but he started to come good for Wolves toward the end of the season, with Julen Lopetegui regularly starting him.
In the end, he scored just one goal in 25 appearances for the club. But he is credited with playing a huge part in Wolves staying in the Premier League, and there was a tinge of sadness for many when he left last summer.
Costa then signed for Botafogo on a short-term contract but recently left them – and he has started life at his new club with a bang…
Former Wolves striker Diego Costa has scored seven goals in just five games for new club Gremio
At the end of 2023, Costa left Botafogo, having made 15 appearances for them, scoring three goals.
Their board had wanted him to extend, but ultimately player and club could not come to an agreement, and Costa left as a free agent.
He was then snapped up by Gremio, who had lost Luis Suarez to Inter Miami.
Any suggestions that Costa might be finished have been put to bed pretty quickly by the player, who has made a fantastic start to life at his new club, whom he joined in February.
Costa has made five appearances so far for his new club, and already scored seven goals.
He bagged goals against Brasil Pelotas and then the first leg against Caixas in the Campeonato Gaúcho. He then scored four in the second leg against Caixas.
Costa also scored Guarany Bage.
Yesterday, he notched his eighth goal for the club against Juventude in the second leg of the final. of the Campeonato Gaúcho. He also provided an assist in the 3-1 win, as Gremio retained their title.
Wolves should have contacted Costa
After Wolves’ game with Burnley in midweek, Gary O’Neil expressed his frustrations about the current squad size, revealing that he made his concerns to the board clear.
There was an attempt to land Armando Broja on transfer deadline day, and also Yuri Alberto the day before. But Wolves were ultimately unsuccessful over both players.
Then, perhaps inevitably, Pedro Neto, Hwang Hee-chan and Matheus Cunha all got injured, with Sasa Kalajdzic and Fabio Silva having both already been loaned out.
One does wonder if it ever crossed anyone’s mind at the club to make an approach to Costa, after he had left Botafogo.
Granted he may be playing in Brazil now. But he is currently showing that he still has an eye for a goal and has decent fitness levels, and he might have been able to do a job again for Wolves. He could at least have provide a bit more cover.
After leaving Botafogo, he apparently didn’t fancy staying in Brazil initially (as reported by Marca), perhaps suggesting he would have considered a call from Wolves had one come. But Gremio officials were ultimately able to convince him to join them.
The player enjoyed his time at the Molineux and struck up a good bond with many of the players – Cunha and Joao Gomes in particular. Wolves have been crying out for someone amid this mini-injury crisis, and it’s a shame that Costa was seemingly never considered.