Candidate 2: Didier Drogba
The Chelsea legend got a goal and an assist in Chelsea’s demolition of Schalke last week, despite only appearing as a late sub. His form and fitness has picked up as the season has gone on, but he’s still not an ideal Costa replacement.
It was the home leg of that Schalke fixture, back in September, which was Drogba’s first start this season. The Ivorian looked leggy and the team were not used to playing with him. The likes of Cesc Fabregas and Filipe Luis kept looking to play a quick pass into space, as they would with Costa, but Drogba was not running beyond the defence, instead looking for balls into his feet or chest.