“Everything he does is meticulous. He’s shown a lot of the younger players what you have to do to look after yourself and have a good career in the game. When he first came to the club, he was a big part of the culture change, because of his work ethic and how he managed himself before and after training. He definitely raised the levels and expectations amongst the players themselves.

“When he came in, we had a huge Portuguese contingent, and he was a hero to a lot of the guys for what he’d achieved in both club and international football. He just had that presence and people wanted to follow what he was he doing. We thank Joao for all he did at Wolves and wish him the best of luck for the future.”

Costa was drafted in amid a striker crisis and made 25 appearances in his nine-month spell at Molineux, helping the team retain their Premier League status. Hobbs said: “Diego came off the back of Sasa’s [Kalajdzic] injury and has been incredible whilst he’s been here, the way he’s bought into the club, the values and the culture. On the pitch, he’s shown that he still has a lot to offer and off the pitch he’s been an incredible teammate, especially for the young Brazilians like Joao [Gomes] and Matheus [Cunha] – he’s been a real asset for them.

“We’ve seen the relationship he’s had with the women’s team, where he was in the gym in the evenings and they came in and formed friendships, and he was very supportive of them. I can’t thank him enough for everything he’s done over the season – he was a really important part of what we managed to achieve, staying in the Premier League.