A midday in September two years ago, Diego Costa appeared in Barajas with a black backpack on his back and a few extra kilos. Also with a smile from ear to ear because, after a summer of rebellion at his home in Lagarto (Brazil), trying to escape as outside Chelsea and Conte, he had managed to get his way. He thought that, in the four seasons signed in his contract (until June 2021), the best could be yet to come. That his second part in Atlético, to the shelter of Simeone, would return not only happiness but also the warrior spirit and, of course, his aim. Since January 2018, when he could be registered, he has played 59 of the 99 possible matches, for a total of 14 goals and 11 assists. 10 have been lost due to sanction but it has been the physical problems that have not stopped interrupting their path. After being operated on for a cervical disc herniation, it will not return, at least, within three months.

Without knowing it, the final 10 minutes that Costa played in the Wanda Metropolitano against Espanyol (3-1), were also his last of the year. Koke served the goal of the sentence and went to the dressing room satisfied because, at least, he had been able to contribute to the conquest. Only three days later, he was forced to train outside his teammates in Majadahonda for cervical discomfort. Four days later, the rojiblanco club announced that its striker suffered a cervical disc herniation. Costa traveled to Brazil to consult a trusted doctor and this Thursday, a week after the announcement of his injury, he was operated successfully in Madrid, according to the medical report.

Simeone has already assumed that he will not be able to count on him until 2020. Costa will be around three months out. "In the case of any other sport, perhaps we would be talking about a recovery for about a month. However, football implies a sporting gesture, the head shot, which makes it very difficult to return to the playing fields in this such a short period, "Dr. Ángel Villamor , medical director of the iQtra Advanced Medicine Clinic in Madrid, explains to EL MUNDO. "The head shot carries a violent impact of high energy, which causes an overload in the neck for which biomechanically it is not prepared," he adds.

Costa has found another stone in his tortuous second act at Atlético, where the injuries have been tripping him. Almost a year ago, at the start of December, he also left Brazil by surprise to have surgery on his left foot. That separated him from the team for 74 days (he lost 13 games), but Simeone took it as a toll to have his full fetish striker. In the 26 months of his second rojiblanca adventure, he has been absent in 32 games due to injury and has been on leave for almost half a year (178 days). Those numbers will gain even more weight with this herniated disc that will prevent him from playing the Spanish Super Cup and will force him to watch on television how his teammates try to close the pass to the round of 16 of the Champions League.

Tight salary mass

"Fortunately, the prognosis of cervical disc herniation surgeries is much better than those performed for the lower back," Dr. Villamor clarifies to this newspaper. In the case of Costa, its large size (1.88 meters and more than 85 kilos) and its enormous physical power are determining factors that make it difficult to establish a specific return date. Of course, never before the minimum three months. Head shots are part of a soccer player's game, but much more for a forward.

During his absence, Simeone will not miss his goals so much (two in 15 games - 1,074 minutes - this course) as his simple presence on the attack front to give rest and keep Alvaro Morata rooted fresh. Atlético cannot use the winter market to find a remedy. "There is no loophole for any signing due to the tightness of the wage bill," they told this newspaper from the club when the injury was known and, later, was openly confirmed by its president, Enrique Cerezo. So, Atlético will have to face the end of the year, with the visit to Turin and the duel against Barcelona, ​​with what it has. This is: Morata, Correa, Joao Felix , about to return, and ... the unprecedented Ivan Saponjic .

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