How cheeky Chelsea stars tricked Diego Costa into making X-rated comments to referee which nearly got striker sent off

CHEEKY Chelsea players tricked Diego Costa into making X-rated comments to a Premier League referee – and almost got the hot-head sent off.

Costa – who returned to England with Wolves this week – signed for the Blues from Atletico Madrid in a £32million transfer in summer 2014.

But the Spain international, who grew up in Brazil speaking Portuguese, barely knew a word of English as he arrived in the Premier League.

So skipper John Terry and his team-mates made the most of the opportunity to play the hilarious prank by telling Costa the word for “sorry” was actually “c***”.

Then in one of his first appearances for Chelsea, Costa did not take long to get into trouble with the referee who wanted a word with the fiery forward.

As he walked away, the goalscorer muttered “c***” towards the official.

Stunned, the ref called him back over, asking Costa to clarify what he had just said.

Then the striker repeated the expletive to his face, prompting the referee to summon over captain Terry for a word.

The shocked whistler told JT what had happened and told the legendary Chelsea icon to tell Costa to clean out his potty-mouth.

But instead, Terry burst out laughing on the pitch and explained the practical joke to the referee: “We told him ‘c***’ meant ‘sorry’!”

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Although certainly appreciating the banter, the referee did warn Terry he had to tell Costa the proper word for “sorry” – because he almost showed him a red card for foul and abusive language.

The 24-cap Spain star went on to score 59 goals in 120 appearances in three seasons as Chelsea before returning to Atleti.

He was somehow only once shown a red card – in an FA Cup battle with Everton.

However, he earned a reputation for his combative style at Stamford Bridge resulting in a series of FA suspensions.  

Then back in Madrid, he was sent off on his second debut for the club and banned for eight matches in 2019 after insulting a LaLiga ref’s “prostitute mother” and repeatedly grabbing Jesus Gil Manzano while swearing and shouting at him after being sent off for dissent. 

But now Costa is back in the Premier League after completing a one-year free transfer to Wolves following the ACL injury to new signing Sasa Kalajdzic.

And boss Bruno Lage will be hoping Costa is on his best behaviour and lets his feet do the talking if he makes his debut against champions Manchester City on Saturday – with experienced ref Anthony Taylor the man in the middle. 

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk