Hughes: The Premier League will miss Costa

The former Manchester United striker was himself known for being a physical handful for opposing defenders and he believes that Chelsea will miss the Spaniard's combative approach.

David Luiz's red card against Arsenal last week made it Chelsea third sending-off in just five Premier League games so far this season and Hughes believes that Chelsea will miss Costa's 'mastery of the dark arts of football'.

Speaking ahead of Saturday's game between the two sides Hughes said: ‘I think they’ve got more sendings-off in the opening five games as in the whole of last year.

‘If you look at Costa, he was brilliant at taking it up to the edge, then stepping back, and it affected opposition teams. Maybe they haven’t quite got that ability in terms of getting the dark arts right.’

The Welshman says that he sees Costa's imprending move to Atletico Madrid as a sad loss for the Premier League, insisting that there was much to be admired in his oft-criticised approach to the game.

‘It’s a shame from a football fans’ point of view, it’s a loss to the Premier League,’ Hughes said. ‘I used to enjoy watching him play because he had an edge to him and the reaction of other players to him was really interesting.

‘That’s a skill in itself. You can take it right to the line and then step back and get other people into trouble because they haven’t got that skill to stop where they should do.

‘Whatever happened or why it happened, maybe both (Chelsea and Costa) should have got together and got a real positive out of it. He’s a top player and the Premier League should have top players playing in it.’

Do you agree with Hughes? Let us know in the comments.