Diego Costa’s reputation as ‘The Beast’ precedes him on his return to the Premier League with Wolverhampton Wanderers, but even the imposing striker admitted he was ‘scared to death’ holding wolves on a leash on his club presentation video

The 33-year-old, a figure to reckon with during his time at Chelsea, where he was the club’s top scorer every season and won two Premier League titles, signed a one-year deal with Wolves after the club lost its forwards to injuries.

The Wolves announced the signing of free agent Costa with a video in which the Spaniard is seen wearing his kit and holding chains attached to three growling wolves with the caption: “Diego is a wolf (is a wolf)”, a post https://twitter.com/Wolves/status/1569279694742212608 that has since gone viral.

“I was scared to death. Holding that chain I kept thinking: ‘What if this wolf decides to jump on me?’ And then all three did it,” Costa said in an interview with the club.

“Since the lady who trained them kept calling them, asking them to move a bit… the wolves didn’t do anything. I thought: ‘If they don’t do anything with the trainer, if they come…’.

“When they came and smelled my foot, I knew I was finished. Then I got a little scared. It was wolves, not dogs. It was a cool experience, but not very comfortable. I have five dogs, but they’re not wolves.”

Costa said he would need some time to regain his form, having been without a club since January, but he was excited by the challenge of returning to the top flight of English soccer.

“Physically and psychologically, I will need two to three weeks to get back in shape, but it’s normal as I haven’t done much for a while, but I know I can do it,” he said.

“If I had ever doubted my potential… I would not have accepted this challenge because I have a team to take care of and if I have said yes to this it is because I think I can contribute something.”