Diego Costa Reveals What It Was Like Under Mourinho At Chelsea

It's safe to say Diego Costa, like many of Chelsea's players, enjoyed differing fortunes under Jose Mourinho during the Portuguese manager's second spell in charge at Stamford Bridge.

The Brazilian born Spanish international arrived from Atletico Madrid in a £30m deal three years ago and was an instant hit, scoring 21 goals in 37 games in his debut season as Chelsea secured the Premier League title and League Cup double under Mourinho.

The following campaign, however, was a disaster, with Chelsea slumping to a 10th place finish during a season in which Mourinho was fired from the club for the second time in his illustrious career.

Diego Costa

Costa endured a dismal second season at Stamford Bridge, with Mourinho being sacked halfway through. Image: PA

However, despite several stories reporting unrest behind the scenes involving several players feuding with Mourinho and even 'refusing to play' for him, Costa has now insisted that he has nothing but respect for the two time Champions League winning coach, who was the reason he moved to Chelsea in the first place.

Speaking to Thierry Henry during an interview on Sky Sports, Costa revealed, "In all honesty I always tell people that I am grateful to Mourinho because he helped me a lot.

"As a player when you want to improve you always look for the best coach and Mourinho is one of the best.

"I wanted to come to Chelsea because of Mourinho. When I considered Chelsea I thought about the fact that Mourinho was here.

The Spain international is back to his best, this season, though. Image: PA

"He is a coach that demands a lot from his players, he wants the maximum.

"He helped me a lot and then what happened is that the following season didn't go well, these things that happen, but the truth is that Mourinho helped me a lot to improve as a player."

Jose Mourinho

Costa credits the United manager with improving him as a player during their time together at Stamford Bridge. Image: PA

Costa and his Chelsea teammates will go head-to-head with Mourinho's Manchester United for the third time this season, on Easter Sunday, hoping to take a step closer to another Premier League title while also denting United's hopes of a top four finish.

(H/T Metro)

Topics: Jose Mourinho, Football, Manchester United, Chelsea FC, Diego Costa

Joe Baiamonte

Northerner. Assistant Editor of SPORTbible. Studied Journalism and Broadcasting in a portakabin on a car park of Salford University for three years. Believes football peaked with Serie A in the '90s and strong-arms pro wrestling references into as many articles as possible. Neymar once took 50 euros off me during a game of poker.

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