- 13 Nov 2024
Diego Costa would add ‘character’ to the Arsenal squad, says Gallas
Martin Macdonald
- Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
- 2 min read
Former Arsenal and Chelsea defender William Gallas believes Diego Costa would inject some much needed “character” into the squad at the Emirates.
In the 2020/21 season, he has started just twice in La Liga for Los Colchoneros.
Having previously played for Chelsea, a return to the Premier League has been rumoured as a potential destination for Costa.
Gallas thinks Arsenal could do worse than bringing him in.
“He Diego Costa would bring character to the squad. He just wants to win games,” he told PlayOJO of Diego Costa.
“If his team-mate doesn’t play well, he will shout at them during the game and sometimes I think this is good.
“Sometimes, when I’m watching Arsenal, they don’t show any reaction when they concede, and someone like Costa will shout to the guys ‘Wake up!’, which can boost the players.
“If he comes to Arsenal, he will cause a lot of problems for defenders but it might also mean Alexandre Lacazette going on the bench again.”
One player who has struggled to make an impact at Arsenal since signing is Nicolas Pepe, who has flattered to deceive since his mammoth £72m transfer from Lille in 2019.
Gallas has defended Pepe, though, saying it isn’t the player’s fault that Arsenal paid over the odds.
“Who put the money on the table for Pepe? It wasn’t Pepe. Arsenal decided to put £72m on the table,” Gallas explained.
“Football is crazy now. If you play well for a few games, your value goes up and clubs put crazy money on the table. Right now, Pepe isn’t convincing anyone so now I hope this is a lesson to football clubs not to spend crazy money on players.
“People were surprised when they saw £72m on the table for Pepe, but it wasn’t his fault. It was the fault of the club.”
Read more about: Premier League, Alexandre Lacazette, Julian Draxler, Memphis Depay, Nicolas Pépé, Pedro Rodrigues, Pepê
