Thierry Henry exclusively interviews Chelsea's Diego Costa ahead of the clash with Manchester United on Super Sunday Thierry Henry exclusively interviews Chelsea's Diego Costa ahead of the clash with Manchester United on Super Sunday

Ahead of the trip to Manchester United on Super Sunday, Thierry Henry visited Chelsea's Cobham training ground for a very special interview.

Striker Diego Costa rarely speaks to the media, but in his exclusive chat with the Sky Sports pundit he showed how, despite some public perception, he is a happy character and popular figure among his team-mates,

Read on for Henry's fascinating interview which covers Costa's difficulties in England, his approach on the pitch and his views on the crunch trip to Old Trafford.

HENRY: I wanted to ask you who was your idol?

COSTA: Ronaldo.

HENRY: Ronaldo....

COSTA: The fat one (LAUGHS). Well, fat now, because before he wasn't. For me Ronaldo has been... still now, when I see him he reminds me of when I was a kid. He reminds me of Brazil.

Costa took Henry for a spin on a buggy

HENRY: What do you remember about him?

COSTA: I loved when he was one-on-one with the keeper, his dribbling, the way he moved his legs around the ball and used to leave the 'keeper on the ground, and his power. When he had the ball and went on a sprint he was impressive.

HENRY: Do you remember the first time we met?

COSTA: Valladolid, wasn't it?

HENRY: Yes, Valladolid. I was on the bench for Barcelona in the first match, I think. I thought: 'This guy fights like no one else'. I knew you were coming from Madrid and I thought: 'This guy can have a great career' because you fought like no one else.

COSTA: Yeah, playing against Barcelona at the time was very complicated. Most of the time we had to run and run without touching the ball and the Barcelona of those times won everything. I tried to contribute somehow because otherwise in those two matches I would have been just watching you play.

But anyway, it wasn't so good because we lost the second match there 4-0 and were relegated to the second division. I cried that time but after a while we drew in Barcelona and won the league [with Atletico Madrid]. How things change.

Henry and Costa faced each other in La Liga

HENRY: Yes, they change indeed. But now you are here in London. How do you like it here?

COSTA: It's not Brazil, it's not Spain - because as you know I went there from Brazil when I was very young so I spent quite a long time in Spain and I was used to living there. London is a nice city, where you eat well and it is lively but the weather makes me feel down.

But I am happy here at Chelsea, the club has a different organisation to Atletico, things work well here, people give you all the support you need. I know I'm not going to be 100 per cent happy anywhere, but I live well. I'm not really happy with the weather, but that's not vital.

HENRY: I want to ask you something and you already know what that is. People always talk about Diego Costa who always fights on the pitch. I'm going to tell you about my case. People used to say, especially in France, that I was never happy, that I was celebrating my goals with rage, and other things. But for me it was like if I don't win, then you will. One of us has to lose. So the way I saw things was that I needed to fight and if I had to hit my father to win, I would have done that. So I understand you. I needed to be upset with someone.

COSTA: I am the same. Like you, I want to go on the pitch to win and not only in official matches. If we play for fun with friends, I want to win. And even if I am facing my father or my mother, I always want to win. Just like you said, sometimes in some matches no one hits me and I don't feel the match. I need to be mad at someone for the blood to start pumping and give it all on the pitch.

But sometimes people misunderstand and see me as a bad guy, but there's nothing bad in it, it's a way of competing and wanting to win always. There are players who don't need that to get into a match, but I do. Everyone has their own way, but people who compete that way always win something. As long as you don't go on the pitch to harm anyone, I believe that tough competition on the pitch is normal.

Costa opened up to Henry ahead of Super Sunday

HENRY: People always judge a forward on the goals that he scores. But I don't think people see the hard work you are doing. You are the first defender by pressing the opponents, running to the right and to the left, fighting like a lion and I think that sometimes people don't see that. For me, that's the most incredible thing I see in your way of playing. AND the goals as well.

COSTA: Well, there are moments when the ball hits you on your shin and goes in and there are moments when you are not so lucky, so you have to help the team in other ways. I have had moments during the season when I have scored and I scored important goals but there are also times when I go to press, I try to show my desire to win to my team-mates, because sometimes you make a move to create space for someone else to go into. So if I don't score, but I give it all in a match I go home happy. If I don't score but I give an assist, I help my team-mates, I fight, then I go home knowing I did my job and I feel good even if I haven't scored.

In all honesty, there have been matches in which I scored, but I didn't play well and I don't feel happy at the end of the day. But just because you scored two goals people wonder about you even if you played a bad match so for me in the end what matters are my team-mates, because they are always at my side, and the coach, who always says encouraging words and is happy with my work. And that's what matters to me, because people sometimes say bad things, they don't see things as they should.

Costa shows Henry his lighter side by taking him for a soaking

HENRY: And now the Diego Costa off the pitch. Every time I see you, and I have been here to interview Eden and Thibaut, you are always joking around, happy, enjoying life like a real Brazilian. But people only get the image of you on the pitch.

COSTA: Wherever I've played, the team-mates who know me, the people who met still like me because they know what kind of person I am. Sometimes people are given a reputation because of the press, the TV. People talk like someone has done something bad, without knowing. Many times people say that someone is bad and whoever listens to them thinks that someone is bad.

It would hurt me much more if one of my team-mates told the press or another player that I am a bad person. But I am a happy person. I make mistakes, like everyone else. Anyone can make mistakes in their everyday life. Every day we spend more time here than at home so it's important to create a good environment. That's very important because you can have great players but in the dressing room if there is no harmony, players can't stand each other or think they are better than the others then things don't work on the pitch.

You need a dressing room that is more or less united. Of course it's normal that those who don't play might be upset but you need to keep the spirit up of those who don't play regularly because one day you are going to need them. Off the pitch I always try to pass on my happiness and that people don't have to get upset… I try to transmit happiness, because life is not easy and you have to fight to achieve things.

Costa is popular among his Chelsea team-mates

HENRY: We know that at the end of the day the most important thing is the dressing room, to look at your team-mates in their eyes. Like you just said.

COSTA: If I am on good terms with someone and he kicks me, we get mad at each other but then when training is finished, you can stay mad for one day or two but then you clear the air and that's the end of it. But why does it get to that point? Because we behave well. If we don't behave well, then we spend the whole year being mad at each other, without looking at each other in the eyes and that affects the team. There are moments during a season when the team is not doing well and you need to stick together but if you are not united things get complicated.

Costa explained why he is aggressive on the pitch

HENRY: On Sunday there's an important match against Manchester United and you are going to face your former manager. I would like to know, not about last year, but how much he helped you.

COSTA: 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. 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.

HENRY: And how do you see the match?

COSTA: It's a difficult match. We've won two matches against them and surely they want to win against us. They will play with the bit between their teeth. But we know that this is an important match and if we win there we can say that we have moved a step forward towards the title because it's going to be a very important match, for sure a difficult match against a great team, it's not going to be easy. It's important not to lose. If we could sign for a draw, we would but not me, because I want to win so I'll go there to win, we will try to win. It's not going to be easy but if we are top of the league it is because we have the strength to go there and win.

HENRY: This year I see you are calmer on the pitch, especially in your attitude. Did you work on that? Did Mourinho help you with that? Did Conte help you with that?

COSTA: Honestly? I stopped and thought that in Spain I was doing the same things and nothing happened to me. Here things happen on the pitch and who is banned for three matches? Me. Who was banned for three matches again? Me. I'm here in London, at home without playing so I am very, very mad and that annoyed me every time. For as much as I thought that they could be wrong, that they want this to be the best league in the world, but as soon as you touch someone or go in a bit hard you are banned for three matches, then if that's the rule I have to abide by it.

If here this is the culture, if that's the way they do things here, if they are always looking at any controversy that happens on the pitch even if the referee doesn't see it on the pitch and they look at TV footage, so I thought that I couldn't keep missing matches because they are after me.

I think that in no case a three-match ban was necessary. If you are just having a fair fight or if as a striker you are fighting for the ball and your hand strikes someone by accident, they ban you for three or four matches. So I thought I had to change because otherwise I had to leave... I wanted to leave this season because of this, at the beginning of the season I was looking for a way back to Madrid at Atletico because I felt like here they didn't let me play. For the smallest thing they ban me for three matches. I was nervous on the pitch because I was worried that I could be punished at any given moment.

The duo talked about Costa's difficulties in England

HENRY: I lived the same experience with Patrick Vieira. Once here he got two red cards and people were always kicking him and he retaliated but in a match against Liverpool I think, he took his shirt off and said that he didn't want to play here any more. But that was the heat of the moment. In the end he stayed and you know what happened.

COSTA: In the end, all that hurts.

HENRY: Yes, I know. That's the way you are and people need to understand. That's why I asked you that question.

COSTA: Look, if a defender kicks me or steps on my foot, after the match I am not going to ask someone to look at the footage. If during a match a player comes and punches me, then you know what can happen but if a player kicks me and the referee doesn't see it, then it's fine.

HENRY: Yes, I know.

COSTA: As you said, there are times when you are kicked in a match and the referee doesn't see it. But you know, you played in this league.

HENRY: Yes, it's different. I like what you said at the beginning, which is that you needed to understand the local culture and that's very intelligent of you. You needed to adapt and you did it. Well, all the best with Sunday's match and thanks again.

Watch Thierry Henry's interview with Diego Costa for yourself on Super Sunday, which starts on Sky Sports 1 from 12.30pm.

New NOW TV customers: Grab a Sky Sports Month Pass and watch the race for silverware hot up, kicking off this Easter Sunday with Man United v Chelsea. All for just £25.