[MENTION=20424] If he had better end product, he'd be a 100+ million dollar player. It'd be nice to see him catch fire with assists and the occasional goal here.
Agreed. I was definitely pretty happy when we made the move initially, thought it was a great risk-reward scenario; his quality on the ball has always been pretty obvious, as is his ability to accelerate/change speeds, IMO. But what Mike was saying is very true, the decision making and work ethic have been great, and he's still got some room to grow with this team. He can play a structured game, which is important for us.
His integration was pretty deliberate initially (bit slow), chemistry has taken a little while to build, but it's now pretty clear how important he is to the team. I think if Beppe can sort out our midfield this summer, add some dynamism and sort out the transition game, we could see Costa turn into a monster next season. I think he'll put up some solid assist numbers, once he and the team are a little more balanced/settled.