Darren Bent claims Tottenham-linked Diego Costa would be brilliant as a back up striker

By Dom Toner

Darren Bent believes that Diego Costa would be a success at Tottenham, but only if he is joining to be a back up option behind first-choice striker Harry Kane.

The Daily Star reports that La Liga side Atletico Madrid are prepared to sell Costa this summer due to the fact he’s entering the final year of his contract and they want to get rid of him.

It is claimed that Spurs have been offered the chance to sign the 31-year-old forward and he would be a cheaper option to current target Callum Wilson at Bournemouth.

Costa previously had a successful spell in English football where he won two Premier League titles with Chelsea and current Spurs manager Jose Mourinho was the one who brought him to Stamford Bridge.

He earned the reputation as an aggressive striker that played on the edge and bullied defenders, something that saw him scored 58 goals in 120 Chelsea appearances.

Ex-Spurs player Bent has warned his former side about disrupting Kane by changing formation and feels Costa has to come in to support him as an understudy.

“If he’s happy enough to play back up to Harry Kane because that’s what he’ll do then yeah get him because it’s superb,” Bent told talkSPORT.

“Harry Kane is superb playing off a one. When you play in a one you can drop deep if you want you can run in behind, but with a two it becomes difficult you’ve got to work together. If he goes to Spurs fantastic back up striker but he’s never going to dislodge Harry Kane.”

(Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)

TBR’s View:

Mourinho knows all about how to get the best out of Costa and it’s going to be intriguing to see if he does take up the reported opportunity to sign him, as currently there is no real competition for the striker position.

Kane is quite clearly going to be the nailed-on starter to spearhead the Spurs attack when fit and 188 goals in 287 games shows the kind of prolific attacker he is around the penalty area.

But someone with the experience could be perfect to perhaps drive on Kane even further and being able to rotate more freely would help massively, especially with such a busy fixture list in the new campaign.