Medical insider: Diego Costa may not be fit for next ‘eight games’ amid Wolves latest
Diego Costa may not reach peak match fitness before he has turned out eight times for new club Wolves.
That is the view of medical expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in injury and data analysis.
Wolves announced the capture of Costa, 33, on a free transfer on Monday (12 September).
The combative centre-forward has been signed as a stand-in for Sasa Kalajdzic, who ruptured his ACL on his debut following his arrival from VfB Stuttgart.
Costa has not played competitively since he left Brazilian side Atletico Mineiro at the end of 2021.
Dinnery predicts that the former Chelsea and Atletico Madrid man may not reach his top level before the mid-season break for the World Cup.
“There is a difference between the time that the player feels comfortable and when the circumstances might allow him to play,” he told Football Insider’s Adam Williams.
“The big question mark is, what has Diego Costa been doing for the last eight or nine months? From the eye test, he looks as though he is in good shape and has been looking after himself quite well.
“But a lot of those metrics will be picked up from baseline testing, agility speed, flexibility. So, internally, the club will have a fair idea about where they think Diego Costa is and what he can deliver.
“If we contextualise this, you look at the Wolves attack and Jimenez is the main striker. Ideally, Costa would be introduced gradually, getting 10 or 15 minutes here and there.
“The international break provides a good opportunity to build fitness.
“If Wolves are doing well, that process will be allowed to take its natural course. If it isn’t and stakeholders are applying pressure to win games, that might happen a bit sooner.
“The reality is that we have eight games before the World Cup, and he should be getting towards optimum level around that time.
“The typical guideline is around the six to eight-game mark, but it depends how he is utilised over that period in terms of minutes.”
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