10 most controversial figures in Premier League history 

#9 Paolo Di Canio

Paolo Di Canio infamously shoved referee Paul Alcock while playing for Sheffield Wednesday.

Italian forward Paolo Di Canio spent seven seasons in the Premier League, playing for Sheffield Wednesday, West Ham and Charlton Athletic. His fiery character meant that he was never too far away from controversy.

Di Canio bought a notorious reputation with him from his previous stints in Italy – with sides such as Juventus, Napoli and Milan – as well as his time in Scotland with Celtic. The forward fell out with teammates, club owners and – naturally – the authorities, and so when he joined Wednesday in 1997, their fans expected fireworks.

At first, though, the only fireworks they saw were on the pitch. Di Canio scored 14 Premier League goals in the 1997-98 campaign, finishing as the club’s top scorer and becoming a fan favourite in the process. However, early in the 1998-99 Premier League season, the Italian lost the plot entirely and found himself embroiled in a notorious incident.

Red-carded in a game against Arsenal, Di Canio blew his top and shoved referee Paul Alcock to the ground, stunning fans and observers alike as such behaviour had never really been seen in the Premier League before. The Italian showed no remorse, and was eventually banned for 11 games for the incident.

The ban was enough to trigger Wednesday to sell Di Canio to fellow Premier League side West Ham, with Hammers boss Harry Redknapp even admitting that he was taking a risk in signing him. However, Di Canio repaid his faith in full, scoring plenty of spectacular goals and endearing himself to Hammers fans in the process.

From there, the Italian managed to largely stay away from any controversy, despite a fall-out with West Ham boss Glenn Roeder in 2003. But his explosive side quickly emerged again during a stint as Sunderland boss in 2013.

Not only were Black Cats fans not too enthused about Di Canio taking over, but his reign only lasted six months anyway. He was fired early into the 2013-14 season after falling out with his own players – rendering his position untenable.

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#10 Diego Costa

Diego Costa clashed with numerous opponents during his time in the Premier League.

Spanish striker Diego Costa only spent a short period of time in the Premier League – three full seasons with Chelsea to be exact. But while he was there, one thing was for certain - he was never far away from controversy, with a number of unsavoury incidents marking him out during his period at Stamford Bridge.

It’s fair to say that Costa was absolutely fantastic during his first season at the club. He scored 20 Premier League goals in just 26 appearances during 2014-15 and was arguably the catalyst for Chelsea’s eventual title triumph during that campaign.

However, he showed his controversial side early on, when he was accused of taunting Seamus Coleman during a Premier League game with Everton following an own goal from the Irish defender. Later, he was involved in a nasty incident during a match with Liverpool, as he was spotted stamping on Emre Can – an incident that earned him a three-match ban from the FA.

2015-16 meanwhile saw him earn more infamy when he clashed with Arsenal players during a London derby, slapping Laurent Koscielny before goading defender Gabriel into kicking him – earning the Brazilian a largely undeserved red card.

Later, he was seen stamping on Liverpool’s Martin Skrtel, and then received a red card in a match with Everton – a game that also saw him clash with Gareth Barry and seemingly spit in the direction of the referee. And his season ended with him heavily involved in Chelsea’s violent match with Tottenham, where he was eye-gouged by Moussa Dembele during a brawl.

Costa even left Chelsea under a black cloud – reportedly being told via text message by then-boss Antonio Conte that he was no longer needed. After claiming Chelsea were treating him “like a criminal”, he was able to secure a move back to Atletico Madrid, and hasn’t returned to the Premier League since.