Diego Costa will go down as one of the Premier League’s biggest characters.

But it is a damning indictment of Costa that he will be remembered more for his bad boy antics off the pitch rather than his achievements on it.

He won two titles in three controversial years at Stamford Bridge and yet the spats, bust-ups, bans, stamps and going AWOL commanded more headlines.

The Spain striker was a mere mercenary passing through, a wind-up merchant and a million miles from ever gaining the sort of legendary status afforded to Chelsea great Didier Drogba.

Costa netted in the FA Cup final - his final game at Chelsea (
Image:
Getty)
Costa and Martin Skrtel go at it back in 2015 (
Image:
REUTERS/Eddie Keogh)

You would always want Costa on your side but as soon as things went wrong then he would become toxic, dangerous and volatile.

The fact that he was prepared to try to take on Antonio Conte this summer and bring him down tells you everything you need to know about Costa. He is Trouble with a capital T.

Chelsea will miss his goals and indeed his influence on the pitch. He may have been public enemy No1, comedy villain and the striker everyone loved to hate but he could be a nightmare to play against.

He scored 52 goals in 89 games and yet that only tells half the story because he had an incredible knack of winding up defenders, getting them into trouble and stopping at nothing to make sure his team came out on top.

Costa was real handful (
Image:
Offside Sports Photography)

His infamous clash with former Arsenal defender Gabriel in September 2015 was one of his most notorious bust-ups on the pitch. Costa got Gabriel sent off after an elaborate wind-up, Chelsea won the game and, even though the FA dished out a retrospective ban, it was too late by then.

Costa also carries a physical threat that Alvaro Morata - the £67m striker bought to replace him - has yet to show he can match. Morata was bullied by Arsenal defender Shkodran Mustafi on Sunday in a way that Costa never would have been. He would be doing the bullying.

But, ultimately, he was too much hassle and that is why Chelsea have sold him after an ugly summer-long saga which he delighted in playing out in public to try to embarrass Conte.

This became a familiar sight for Chelsea (
Image:
AFP/Getty)
The striker won two Premier League titles at Chelsea (
Image:
Shaun Botterill)

Their relationship was always destined to end in fireworks and it is amazing that they had a bust-up in January when Costa wanted to leave, agreed on an uneasy truce and somehow they got on with it for the rest of the season.

Mirror Sport revealed in July that Costa asked to leave three times last season. Once in the summer of 2016, again in January and then he made it clear he wanted out in May.

Costa was volatile from day one, loud parties were a regular event at his Surrey mansion and he could not wait to get back to Spain for the weather, lifestyle and a return to Atletico Madrid.

Back at the end of the 2015/16 season, when Costa was already agitating to leave, a member of the Chelsea hierarchy was explaining at the training ground how the wayward Brazilian-born striker had calmed down and was happy to live the quiet life in London.

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Right on cue, Costa came tearing into the car park in a customised white Range Rover, windows open, music blaring out at full volume. There was no way that Costa was ever going to calm down.

For a while, Costa’s goals and performances made him worth all the hassle and baggage that went in tow.

But Costa leaves with a sense of relief from Chelsea that he is finally out of the door and they managed to get a deal done. Rather than disappointment that a two-time title winner has left. And that says it all.

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