Liverpool Bid for Atletico Madrid's Diego Costa

There is every reason to believe that Liverpool's business in the transfer window is going to continue despite slowing down for the month of July, and if today is any indication, there's a fair bit left to be done. Rumors swirled around an agreement for Kyriakos Papadopoulos, and while that proved to be little more than speculation, it looks like Liverpool's bid for Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa is something that actually happened. Multiple outlets are reporting the club have submitted a bid in the region of €25m for the Brazilian, who would be the third Spanish player from Spain to join Brendan Rodgers' squad after the early summer arrivals of Iago Aspas and Luis Alberto.

Nothing is completed, of course, and the submitting of a bid doesn't mean anything other than...well, a bid has been submitted. It is a significant amount, however, and one that seems to signal that the club are willing to do what it takes to bring the player in. I haven't seen his name connected with anyone over the summer, leaving much to be desired when it comes to asking price or market value. There will be speculation about what the bid--and Costa's position--means for the future of Luis Suarez, but Ben Smith from the BBC asserts that it changes little.

Liverpool's move for Costa has no bearing on the future of Luis Suarez. Position on that unchanged. No new bids.

— Ben Smith (@BenSmithBBC) August 1, 2013

As for Costa, he's a player in the mold of Aspas and Suarez when it comes to demeanor--fiery, a little off-kilter, and someone who's punched Pepe before, so that's probably worth a few million pounds alone. There are some questions about his effectiveness, however, and he's not necessarily a player that is too adaptable across the forward line. He was shunted wide during Falcao's time at Atletico, but operates more successfully through the middle. And while it's fun to joke about, his personality is one that would appear to take some accommodating; Liverpool have their hands full with Suarez already, and we'll have to wait and see on Aspas, but adding another firebrand into the side might be more than Liverpool would prefer to deal with.

As this is out of nowhere, who knows what unfolds from here--there's talk that this triggers a release clause, and if that's the case it'll be up to the player. Best to hurry up and get all your scouting in now, though, so here's a primer from the season gone by.