

There has been so much to admire about Diego Costa’s first six months as a Chelsea player.

His industry throughout a game, the threat of his pace forcing opposition defenders deep, his ball retention ability before bringing any of the array of talented footballers around him into play, and as we saw recently against Watford in the FA Cup, his driving play from a wide position ultimately leading to goals for team-mates.

But it is the goals he has scored that have naturally grabbed the headlines. In only the 17th minute of the first game up at Burnley, the new centre-forward got Chelsea’s scoring for the season off to a start, and with 15 goals to his name by mid-January he is the Barclays Premier League’s topscorer.

Goals, therefore, are where Diego Costa’s chat with the official Chelsea website begins.

‘As a striker, obviously you live and get judged by the goals you score,’ he acknowledges.

‘It is good to get off the mark straight away but more than that it is about the team performance and the hard work. The first goal could have been scored in the second or the third game, or I could have scored in the first and gone through a dry period with no goals, but what is important is the dedication and the hard work and the belief that we can always do better.

‘If my first goal didn’t come in the first few games I would have still been confident. That is because the team we have is such a great one and the ability of the players that play in midfield and feed the striker is very high, so I always knew goals would come. It is just about hard work and togetherness.

‘Fifteen goals is a good mark and I hope to improve it, but more important than my goals is the team is winning.

‘Of course it is nice to be the topscorer but when I came here my aim was to win the league. The most important thing is the club going well, like we did in the other leagues I played in, and it would be nice at the end of the season to see the team doing well as well as the individual.’