Former Chelsea striker Diego Costa joins Wolves until end of season

Premier League side Wolves have completed the signing of veteran striker Diego Costa on a deal until the end of the season.

Costa has been available as a free agent since January after leaving Brazilian side Atletico Mineiro but Wolves had to appeal for a work permit after the 33-year-old had his initial application rejected.

The attacker's arrival will come as a welcome relief to manager Bruno Lage who lost new £15 million signing Sasa Kalajdzic to a serious knee injury and has key striker Raul Jimenez struggling for form and fitness.

Wolves have scored just three goals in their opening six games of the Premier League season and sit 14th in the table with six points.

“It’s a first-class club with very good players who know how to play football and having the chance to play in the Premier League again was the main thing,” said Costa, who has scored 10 goals in 24 appearances for Spain but won the last of his caps in 2018.

“Obviously, the club influenced my decision, especially knowing I will be able to adapt a lot more easily here not only from a technical point of view, the quality of the players but also from the fact that a lot of the players are Portuguese and that will make my transition that much smoother.

“It wasn’t in the best terms possible on accounts of a player’s injury which, unfortunately, I can only wish him nothing but the best.

It's official. ✍️ pic.twitter.com/FXcgReSlsr

“But when he [manager Lage] told me about returning to the Premier League since this [is] a championship I have related to quite a bit, always liked it and followed. No matter how much I enjoyed playing in Madrid, I felt discouraged, but this motivated me. It lit that fire within me.”

Costa won two Premier League titles and a League Cup