Liverpool’s transfer window has suddenly picked up again after a quiet period, with the news that the club have  submitted a bid tonight for Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa, amounting to £21m.
The figure is believed to have triggered the Brazilian’s release clause and if the move does indeed go through, he will become the Reds’ fifth summer signing. So what can Liverpool fans expect of their potential new striker?
Costa is a 24-year-old who despite coming from Brazil, started his career off in Portugal with Braga. However, for the last few seasons, he has been at Atletico and has spent loan periods at Celta and Rayo Vallecano among others.
Last season at the Vicente Calderon stadium, Costa scored 10 goals in 24 appearances. Now, while this may not seem immediately impressive, it’s worth noting that the striker scored these goals from 38 shots (blocked not included) – giving him a conversion rate of 26.3%. @Basstunedtored has provided these stats on Twitter and also said that in the Premier League last season, the average shot conversion rate was around 10%. For Liverpool fans in particular, Luis Suarez’ conversion rate was only slightly higher at 12.2%.
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In fact, looking further back in his career in La Liga, the young Brazilian is averaging a conversion rate over 20% for the last three years, and is scoring a goal or creating an assist for his team mates every 126 minutes. Costa’s shooting accuracy rating of 63.2% last year in La Liga, also puts him ahead of the Premier League’s most accurate shooters, with Theo Walcott being the next best at 62.9%.
Costa also scored all his goals from inside the box, so could be the answer to the problem Liverpool sometimes have where their strikers aren’t getting in the box enough.
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Diego Costa has a goal or assist every 126 minutes across his La Liga career. Impressive!
@BassTunedToRed
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One concern of Costa’s game is his discipline. WhoScored.com has listed his discipline as a problem and this amounted to 11 yellow cards in the league last year. He is known for punching Real Madrid’s Pepe last year and for committing fouls often. In other words, Liverpool could be looking at another player who has the potential to serve lengthy bans.
Overall Costa could be a great signing for the Reds, or he could be a bad one in disciplinary sense. If the transfer does happen, then it is believed that it will have no bearing on the future of Suarez with the club remaining adamant that they will not sell their prized striker.
Diego Costa Stats from WhoScored
