Chelsea FC Should Not Swap Diego Costa For Jackson Martinez
Chelsea FC are interested in bringing in Atletico Madrid frontman Jackson Martinez in January
Just a year after it seemed Chelsea FC would be set at the striker position for years to come, the Blues are back in the market for another frontman. Last season the Blues added Diego Costa from Atletico Madrid for around £35 million and he responded by scoring 20 goals in the Premier League.
Loic Remy was purchased from Queens Park Rangers for £8 million and he delivered as a supersub and played well in the many instances that Costa was suspended or injured. This year however, Costa has struggled mightily and Remy is dealing with injuries despite not playing any serious minutes.
With one striker on the verge of suspension at all times, another who cannot stay fit, and a third who is a ghost of his former self, the Blues are expected to splash some serious cash during the January window. Rumors have begun to swirl that the Blues are willing to do a player swap with Atletico Madrid for the services of Jackson Martinez in exchange for Diego Costa.
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Martinez was a prolific striker at FC Porto, with 92 goals in 132 appearances, but has struggled for form since making a £25 million move to Atletico in the summer. He has not made the same impact that other strikers have at Atletico and it is understood that the club is willing to move on from him.
Swapping Diego Costa for Martinez would be a band-aid on the wound that is the Chelsea striker position however and would not truly solve the club’s problems. For one thing, Costa is three years younger than Martinez and is still in the midst of his prime. He is a proven Premier League striker and he can be prolific when fit and actually trying to score and not trying to win penalties.
If the Blues were to decide to move on from Costa, which would be understandable given his on-field and injury issues, then there are better options out there than Martinez. The club would be better off selling the Spanish international and reinvesting that money in to the purchase of a younger striker than the nearly 30-year-old Atletico front man.
Even if this swap deal was to go through, there is no guarantee that Martinez would find his footing in the Premier League. He is also cup-tied for the Champions League so the Blues would be forced to either play Remy who cannot stay fit, or the ghost of Radamel Falcao in their bid to win the title.
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Any way you look at it, short of paying Atletico directly for Jackson Martinez, this deal makes no sense whatsoever for Chelsea FC. Diego Costa may be a problem child but he could learn to control himself under a manager that does not encourage the “dark arts” the way Jose Mourinho or Diego Simeone did. If he does not, then he can be shipped off in the summer back to Atletico but for a similar fee to what the Blues paid for him in the summer of 2014.