A blue-collar forward with more than just magic tricks

Jose Mourinho was at a media presentation in central London last night, offering plenty of opinions about the World Cup ahead of his work on it as a pundit, but refusing to really elaborate on his day-to-day job and — specifically — Chelsea’s impending purchase of Diego Costa. He was keeping quiet on that, as news developed of the Atletico Madrid striker completing a medical on Monday.

Then again, the Portuguese couldn’t exactly have said more than has already been said. Mourinho has made no secret of his desire for a striker of a “suitable profile”; their discussions with Atletico over Costa were well known, and there’s no obscuring Chelsea’s primary issue.

They essentially lost the league title last season because they didn’t score enough goals — not least against the likes of Norwich and Sunderland at home — and the manager frequently lamented the strike-rate of his forwards.

Now, Mourinho is set to purchase one who hit 35 goals in 43 games in the league and Champions League last season — one of them the penalty that effectively put Chelsea out of Europe. His return really stood out.

But, just as that kind of ratio has only been seen from Costa for the last year, this has been an issue for the Stamford Bridge side for far longer than last season. They need the naturalised Spanish international to finish more than chances. They need him to finish an unwanted trend.

One frequent cautionary note surrounding the deal is that Costa isn’t exactly following the most successful line of business. Roman Abramovich has a clear penchant for a prize number-nine but it’s equally clear the majority haven’t lived up to expectations.

Fernando Torres and Andriy Shevchenko have become the most infamous examples, as forwards who effectively became different players to the stars that Chelsea signed, but Chelsea didn’t exactly get the returns anticipated from Mateja Kezman or Adrian Mutu either. Even Hernan Crespo, who did perform adequately throughout 2005-06, found himself unsettled in London.

Really, Didier Drogba is the only one of Abramovich’s prime forwards to properly succeed, but that may actually be rather relevant as regards Costa.

For one, the Spaniard is at a similar stage of his career to the Drogba who signed in 2004. Unlike Torres and Shevchenko, he is not signing on the other side of a cycle, when the value can really only go down.

Even more importantly, though, Costa is a broadly similar type of forward to Drogba. That’s not to say they are the exact same in style, but they are certainly two who have much more about them than their strike ratio.

And, for all Chelsea need those goals, Mourinho has always wanted more than a scorer. It has been a hallmark of all his teams, going right back to Drogba. The Chelsea manager has persistently favoured physical forwards who pin attacks together and also occupy defences sufficiently to allow the rest of the attackers to flood in behind. It is almost like three jobs in one, which is what Costa is well capable of doing.

He may not quite have Drogba’s aerial presence, but he does all the other dirty work — and not in the sense of the fouls and niggles that Costa has become notorious for. The stats indicate he is willing to put his foot in and tackle far more than the majority of strikers — and certainly more than Chelsea’s current line-up — but you only have to watch the manner in which he abrasively backs into defenders and demands so much attention.

Beyond that, then, there is that pace on the turn. That accuracy while accelerating — which the Spanish international team are known to have marvelled at — is what really marks Costa apart and makes him someone to really think about it.

The hope for Chelsea is that his recent hamstring injury has not affected it, but his medical is understood to have not flagged up any concerns.

Mourinho, then, has got himself a forward of precisely the right profile.

Costa’s actions are set to speak far louder than any words.