Why PUMA Should Move For Diego Costa - Football News

Top players get top sponsorship deals, that's how football marketing works, strike a deal for one of the world's best players to wear your brand and watch your sales rocket. Ronaldo, Messi, Ribery, Aguero, Suarez, every top player on the planet has a multi-million pound boot deal, every player apart from Diego Costa.

Costa is in the form of his life this season. His brutal combination of physical gamesmanship combined with sheer technique and brilliance has taken Atletico Madrid to the top of La Liga and catapulted his profile to one of the world's most feared strikers. Despite this he's still a free agent when it comes to his footwear. Why?



The interested parties when any world class player is up for grabs are the big two; Nike & adidas, but Costa could be dangerous ground for football's biggest hitters. He has committed his international future to Spain, controversially rejecting a call from the Brazilian national team. Great news for Spaniards, great news for adidas, right? Apparently not.

The 25-year-old has been booed at every La Liga ground this season. Shouts of "You are not Spanish" have been heard form the terraces with the natives upset that Costa, born in Brazil, isn't pure Spanish. As crazy as it sounds, they don't want him and this is certain to effect adidas' decision to offer a deal to a player fans don't want to see in the three stripes of their national kit. Costa isn't the most marketable asset in España right now, especially for adidas.
 

So all set for Nike to swoop in and capture Costa? After all, the player has been wearing Nike since 2012 and is currently leading Atletico's title charge in a pair of blacked-out Mercurial Vapor IX's. Again, relations between brand and country mean there are stumbling blocks. Would Nike want to promote an athlete that rejected Brazil, the country most associated with their brand, in favour of the three stripes of La Roja?

The Brazilians wanted him but as Luiz Felipe Scolari said, the player "turned his back" on his country. For Nike to offer Costa a deal in the year Brazil host the World Cup, it's got the ingredients to backfire. Nike will want to play it safe, keep the peace with the Brazilians and distance themselves from Costa.

For such a player to be without a sponsorship deal beggars belief. Every goal, every headline made without the player, Nike or adidas cashing in. Players can command serious money from endorsement deals, especially when you're one of the leading goal scorers in La Liga. Just ask Cristiano Ronaldo (£5m a season - Nike), Cesc Fabregas (£3.2m a season - PUMA) and Lionel Messi (£2m a season - adidas).

Costa's meteoric rise from a relative unknown to one of Europe's most in-demand strikers explains why Nike or adidas weren't sniffing around for his signature at an earlier age. It's been a steady rise to the top for a player who's now cemented his position as Atletico's top-dog. Of course, now that's he's scoring for fun he doesn't want to do it for free. By blacking out his Nike boots he's putting himself in the shop window. Enter PUMA?

In recent years PUMA have taken their professional roster to new levels, splashing big bucks on the likes of Sergio Aguero, Cesc Fabregas and Mario Balotelli. Costa, a stray-turned-superstar with a controversial attitude, certainly seems to fit the PUMA profile. Last season they lost Radamel Falcao to Ligue 1 and should Costa continue Atletico's charge at the top of La Liga, PUMA must surely make a move.



Which brand do you think Diego Costa will sign for? Let us know. Join the conversation online, on Twitter and on Facebook.