This week, we’ve seen Wolverhampton Wanderers announcing the signing of Brazilian striker Diego Costa.
The 33-year-old had been a free agent since January, when he rescinded his contract with Atletico Mineiro, and finally found a new club to play for.
The former Atletico Madrid and Chelsea star had obviously been linked to several sides in the past few months, and one of them were Palmeiras, who besides being one of the richest sides in Brazil these days, had been in a big hunt for a centre-forward.
Now, as Brazilian legend Edmundo has been speaking on his Youtube channel regarding the Verdão’s quest for a striker, he claims Diego Costa turned down the club before agreeing his deal with Wolves, and there was actually a good reason for that.
“Diego Costa, I have information. Palmeiras probed Diego Costa, who did not accept because he has knee problems and did not want to play on Allianz Parque’s synthetic turf,” said Edmundo.
“This is not guesswork, no, it’s information from the boy who is not Diego Costa’s agent, but he who made the entire transaction for Atletico Mineiro. And he really wanted the negotiation with Palmeiras to materialize, but it was Diego Costa himself who said no because of this issue.”
Diego Costa did play in Brazil for nearly six months last year, but since the vast majority of pitches in the local league are still natural grass, that was no problem for him.
Palmeiras are one of the few who use a synthetic field, and by playing there week after week, the striker would certainly suffer more there.
Now with the striker having just signed for Wolves, we wonder if there’s any reason why the Molineux side should worry about that situation.
Premier League pitches mostly use hybrid pitches which, at least theoretically, should give him no problems.
