Diego Costa is poised to return to the West Midlands where he was last seen brandishing a fire extinguisher and threatening to let it loose in the general direction of his boss, Antonio Conte.

This was a Friday night in May 2017 at the Hawthorns where Chelsea’s win against West Bromwich Albion clinched the Premier League title, and Costa (left) was celebrating in his own inimitable fashion.

A fortnight later he was gone from English football seemingly never to return. Costa scored his final goal for Chelsea in an FA Cup final defeat by Arsenal before going on strike, refusing to return for pre-season training because of an ill-judged text from Conte to let him know he was no longer in his plans. Their relationship had deteriorated since Costa’s unsuccessful bid to leave for the lucrative Chinese Super League during the January he would eventually depart, locked deep in dispute. When he first arrived at Stamford Bridge, Costa could not speak a word of English but with the help of Chelsea’s Oscar practised a few words he wanted to say when introduced to his new team-mates. ‘I go to war, you come with me,’ he told them on his first day. It turned out he wasn’t joking.