Diego Costa claims that he is not a “dirty” player – that he has never set out to injure another player on purpose – and he also confesses that he is still getting used to “getting kicked more” than he did in La Liga.
The former Atletico Madrid striker has just completed a 3 match ban, punishment for a stamp on Emre Can in the League Cup semi final against Liverpool last month.
Costa has given an exclusive interview to Sport magazine in which he talks about all things football, managers past & present & his future ambitions
Some of the kicks I suffer in England would be punished with a red card in Spain.
“My challenges on the ball are strong but noble at the same time. If you check my records, you will find out that I’ve never caused a bad injury to any player.
The bottom line is that sometimes the little things I do on the pitch provoke exaggerated reactions.
“But if you rewind a bit and go through what they did to me, you may have another point of view. I consider myself a player who fights and gives everything on the pitch.”
