Tottenham will not solve Atletico Madrid’s striker problem
Tottenham want to buy a backup striker this summer, but they aren’t going to take Diego Costa off of Atletico Madrid’s hands.
Diego Costa once powered Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea squad to a pair of Premier League titles. The most recent of which occurred back in 2017. Do not look for the pair to sensationally reunite in 2020.
The Mirror carries the report that Costa has been offered to Tottenham and a host of other European clubs by Atletico Madrid. The mercurial striker’s reunion with Atleti manager Diego Simeone didn’t go as planned.
Costa only managed five La Liga goals last season and faced frequent questions about his conditioning and mental drive to succeed by the Spanish media. He’s also one of Atletico’s highest earners. That makes it easy to understand why the club want to offload him this summer.
Connecting Costa to Mourinho is an easy story for the media. The two combined together beautifully at Chelsea during the striker’s prime. Costa was a lightning rod for controversy during his time in England, but he always produced on the pitch for his manager. That’s why he and Mourinho got along so well.
Why won’t Diego Costa end up with Tottenham?
That doesn’t mean Mourinho is going to welcome him to Tottenham with open arms. Spurs are not a club that can afford to pay a backup striker massive wages. Costa would need to take a pay cut to open up the possibility of a move to the North London club. The odds are stacked against him making such a concession.
Even if he were to reduce his wage packet, there’s no guarantee that he’s the right type of player to provide cover for Harry Kane. Costa is now on the wrong side of 30 and Spurs officials have serious questions about his fitness levels. Any striker Tottenham sign this summer needs to be available to step in for Kane at all times. Costa’s lack of availability last year for Atletico makes him a poor candidate for that role.
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The idea of Costa reuniting with Mourinho is a fun narrative for the media to peddle, but it’s not a transfer story rooted in reality. Tottenham and Atletico Madrid will both have to look elsewhere to solve their striker issues this summer.