When biting, diving, brilliant Luis Suarez departed for Barcelona, the Premier League had a vacancy for a bad-boy striker to be revered and detested in equal measures. After a successful six-month probation period, you can safely say Diego Costa has landed himself the job. Chelsea's centre forward has been the single-most newsworthy player of the season. Just like Suarez, and Eric Cantona before him, sports editors can rely on at least 50 back-page splash stories a season from Costa. Chelsea's 1-0 win against Liverpool on Tuesday night to book a place in the Capital One Cup final at Wembley was virtually a footnote alongside the Diego Costa show.
@highlight
Diego Costa helped Chelsea beat Liverpool in Capital One Cup semi-final
@highlight
But Costa was accused of stamping on Emre Can and Martin Skrtel
@highlight
Jamie Redknapp, Thierry Henry, Graham Poll said Costa deserved red card
@highlight
Jose Mourinho has blasted Costa's critics... but he could be banned for title showdown with Manchester City on Saturday
@highlight
The Spain striker is the natural heir to Luis Suarez in the Premier League
@highlight
Both strikers have outrageous talent but volatile temperament
In terms of having the emotions stirred, it was like having @placeholder back.
@placeholder and Skrtel also squared up after the other stamp incident against Liverpool