Football News

Diego Costa could have been a ‘proper Drogba successor’, says ex-Chelsea youngster

By Ben Green

Published: 11:21, 26 February 2020

Former Chelsea goalkeeper Marcin Bulka has revealed the bizarre antics of Diego Costa during training sessions and heaped praise on under-fire stopper Kepa Arrizabalaga.

The Poland U-20 international swapped Stamford Bridge for Paris Saint-Germain last summer following the expiration of his contract.

Bulka recalls training antics at Chelsea: Five things to know…

  • Bulka signed for Chelsea in 2016 after a brief trial in the capital.
  • He spent three seasons at Stamford Bridge before leaving for PSG last summer.
  • The Pole has now lifted the lid on some very juicy training ground gossip during his Chelsea days.
  • Bulka has revealed Costa once reacted strangely to Chalobah’s supposed theatrics by ‘sitting on his face’.
  • He also says Kepa has some of the fastest reflexes in world football.

The 6 ft 6 in gloveman joined the Blues in 2016 from FCB Escola Varsovia and spent three seasons plying his trade in the club’s academy, but also taking part in first-team training sessions under Antonio Conte and Maurizio Sarri.

During his time in Cobham, Bulka got to pit his wits with some of the best the game has to offer, and he has since revealed a few memorable moments of his time in west London.

The 20-year-old recalled one particular training session, in an interview with Polish YouTube channel Foot Truck, where Costa was infuriated with Nathaniel Chalobah’s supposed play-acting and took a rather unorthodox decision to deal with the situation.

Bulka said: “One time in training, Nathaniel Chalobah was on the ground suffering from a tackle. Diego thought he was acting it up so started talking s*** in Spanish.

“After a while, when Nathaniel was not getting up, Diego took off his pants and sat on his face, then run away. I haven’t seen anything like this, it was something else.

“He is close to my top eleven. On top of his game, he was a player Chelsea needed, he could be a proper Drogba successor.”

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Bulka: We used to call Kepa ‘El Gato’ 

Bulka was asked by Foot Truck to name his best XI, and having worked alongside some of the greatest ‘keepers in the modern era, including Thibaut Courtois and Keylor Navas, he unsurprisingly omitted Arrizabalaga from his final selection.

However, the current PSG ‘keeper was not short of praise for the world’s most expensive goalie, revealing he and his ex-Chelsea teammates once bestowed the moniker ‘El Gato’ — or ‘The Cat’ in English — on Arrizabalaga due to his quick reflexes and dexterity between the sticks.

When asked if he has seen reflexes as quick as Navas, Bulka replied: “Yeah, Kepa also has great reflexes too.

“But the difference is he needs to base on them more, because he has different physical parameters and different style.

“He’s super fast though, we used to call him ‘El Gato’.”