Diego Costa likely to wear No18 shirt at Atletico Madrid as Spaniards drop huge hint
Spaniard completed a £67m switch from Chelsea this week and is set to be unveied before Sevilla clash
ATLETICO MADRID have dropped a huge hint that Diego Costa will wear the No18 shirt this season.
The Spanish international has sealed a £67million switch but cannot be registered until January due to a transfer ban.
And when he is added to the squad, Costa could take the No18 shirt, which is popular with strikers, as club icon Fernando Torres has No9.
A picture taken outside the club's new Wanda Metropolitano stadium shows the names and numbers of several stars with a spot left blank, presumably for Costa.
The striker was told he did not feature in Antonio Conte’s plans at the end of last season, and he insisted he was disappointed with how his time at Stamford Bridge ended.
Asked how he felt upon his return to Madrid, he beamed: “I’m delighted.
“It has taken too long, but has had a happy ending.
“Now I’m looking forward to seeing my team-mates and training.
Latest Atletico Madrid news
“This is not how I wanted things to end at Chelsea, I had a good relationship with the people there.
“I’m not the type of person who would have wanted to leave in that way.
"But I wanted to return. I was happy at Chelsea, who are also a big club, but Atletico is my home."
Costa hit back at those who criticised his lack of fitness over the summer, insisting the "scary" Atletico fitness coach will soon whip him into shape.
He added: "After three months without training I'm not in as bad a shape as people are saying.
"Here we'll have Prof. Ortega who will help me - and his training sessions scare me more than the scales."