On Monday afternoon, Diego Costa's return to the Premier League was confirmed as he signed a contract with Wolves until the end of the season.
The former Chelsea hardman has returned to England after spells in Spain and Brazil, having left Stamford Bridge in 2017. During his first spell in the Premier League, the Brazilian-born striker displayed his qualities as something of a throwback forward as his immense ability to handle two-man defensive pairings single-handedly earned him a reputation as the league's most-feared forward.
Signed under Jose Mourinho in 2014, after being advised to turn down interest from Liverpool the previous summer, the striker won two Premier League titles and a League Cup during his time in London. Despite his 20-goal season under Mourinho, it was in fact under Antonio Conte that Costa slotted into his 3-4-3 counter-attacking style seamlessly and ultimately helped Chelsea win their only league title under the Italian.
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Liverpool's game with Wolves was, of course, cancelled after the death of Her Majesty the Queen on Thursday afternoon, meaning that even if Costa's deal had been completed by the Friday lunchtime deadline he still would have had to wait to reunite with the old foe.
Of course, the former Spain international has a history with Liverpool from his spell in England between 2014 and 2017 after getting into a string of arguments with the likes of Martin Skrtel, Steven Gerrard and most infamously Jordan Henderson.
As Brendan Rodgers' side faced Mourinho's men in the 2014/15 League Cup semi-final, with Chelsea travelling to Anfield for the first leg, it would be the first time those in Red would become annoyed with Costa's antics, despite having met in the Premier League late in 2014, as the forward kicked, elbowed and scratched his way through the game. That was before then vice-captain Henderson confronted Costa midway through the second-half after Martin Atkinson had blown for a free-kick on Cesc Fabregas.
As Costa looked intent on getting involved in the action, Henderson stood his ground and looked intensely into the eyes of the 33-year-old. With the pair locking eyes for a period of a few seconds, which would have no doubt felt like an eternity for the Chelsea man, the forward began to back away from the situation while the England international's eyes remained firmly fixed.
Speaking later that year to The Times, Henderson spoke about his experience of his psychological battle with Costa.
“I didn’t want to make any ‘statement’, it was just in that game, he was trying to intimidate some of our younger players, which I didn’t really like," said Henderson. "He’s a fantastic player that any team would want because of that passion and aggression he’s got. I just didn’t like the way he was doing things with our players.”
Just two weeks after the first leg on Merseyside, Costa was back up to his old antics as the Reds travelled to Stamford Bridge. This time there would be run-ins with Skrtel and Gerrard as the pair took it in turns to go head-to-head with the striker after he had left a trialling leg on both of the players during challenges.
It's fair to say whenever Wolves' visit to Anfield gets rescheduled, there will be no love lost between Costa and the Anfield crowd.
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