Diego Costa is one of best strikers in world football now and is close to filling Didier Drogba’s role at Chelsea, according to Gary Cahill.

The England centre-back played with Drogba for years and he spoke on Sunday afternoon of the importance of the Ivorian’s leadership on and off the pitch. Drogba used to score brilliant individual goals at decisive moments, which is what Costa did against West Brom, delivering the win with 15 minutes left.

“The fans are getting behind Diego because he’s banging the goals in and winning us football matches,” Cahill said. “Didier was a huge figure, goalscoring-wise, on and off the pitch, and in terms of his personality. You need strikers like that at a club like Chelsea. Diego is fitting into that role nicely, he’s on fire this season.”

Costa’s brilliant winner on Sunday was his 12th goal of the Premier League season, putting him top of the goal-scoring charts so far. That makes him the best striker in the country now, and Cahill said that he is among the best strikers in the global game. “He is up there in world football at the moment,” he said. “The stats don’t lie. We hope that continues. Diego gets the goals, but everybody contributes to that.”

Just as impressive as Costa’s improved goal-scoring has been his improved disciplinary record. He would not have had one without the other. Costa was booked four times in his first seven Chelsea appearances this season but has survived since then without a fifth booking that would have triggered a suspension.

Cahill said that Costa had added a new patience to his game this year that helps him to keep his head when things are not going perfectly. “That is something that he has added to his game this season,” Cahill said. “I was telling him to be patient, I knew he would get opportunities in the game. He made his own opportunity in the end. He is that player with that personality, it is about putting it in the right direction. At the moment he’s doing that, banging the goals in.”

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Chelsea are currently experiencing the best of Costa, the goals that he scored at the start of the 2014-15 season with none of the disciplinary trouble. It is a credit to Costa himself as well as to Antonio Conte, who has transformed him since taking over as manager in July. Cahill said that Costa is now using his natural aggression the right way.