Chelsea: Don't judge new striker on his dismal summer

Diego Costa shouldn't be written off due to a poor World Cup

With Diego Costa's move to Chelsea close to finalisation, Michael Lintorn argues that the investment will be vindicated...

Perception of Diego Costa has altered massively in the months between speculation of him joining Chelsea first surfacing and the confirmation from the Blues that they have reached an agreement with his current employers Atletico Madrid.

Whereas they were initially commended for acting quickly to set in motion a 32 million deal for European football's breakout striker, his struggles since have caused concern that they are buying a front man at his plateau, much as they did so wastefully with Fernando Torres in 2011.

First came the disappointment of limping out of the Champions League final after just nine minutes, then the humiliating backfire of his call to ditch Brazil for Spain ahead of the World Cup, resulting in a group-stage exit in his homeland as the hosts jigged merrily through to the quarter-finals.

However, criticism of his Spain performances has been too harsh, with two key factors overlooked: a) nobody shone for the holders, with service to Costa ranging from poor to non-existent and b) with two caps to his name, he wasn't properly adjusted to a style so alien to both Atletico and Chelsea's.

The 25-year-old's form over the course of a season spent as the attacking focal point of a settled side is far more pertinent to assessing how he is likely to fare at Stamford Bridge, and allows for a much cheerier forecast.

After all, Costa scored 36 goals to fuel Atletico's miracle 2013/14 in which they won La Liga and came an injury-time Sergio Ramos header off pairing it with a Champions League triumph. In that elite competition, only Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic outdid his eight-strike contribution.

Betfair punters appear to approve of Chelsea's early transfer business, which also includes signing Cesc Fabregas for 27 million and selling David Luiz to Paris St-Germain for a much-debated fee somewhere north of 39,999,999.

The west Londoners are setting the pace at 2.982/1 to mark Jose Mourinho's second campaign back in charge by winning their first Premier League title in five years.