Nacional Born in
Câmara de Lobos,
Madeira, Costa finished his development at local
C.F. União. He made his senior debut with the club in 2006, and played three
third-division seasons with it. Costa joined neighbouring
C.D. Nacional in summer 2009, appearing in 14 games in his
first season in the
Primeira Liga (nine as a
substitute) and scoring two goals as the team finished in seventh position. His debut in the competition came on 12 September 2009, playing 25 minutes in a 2–0 away loss against
Rio Ave FC. On 14 July 2011, Costa scored on his continental debut in the
second qualifying round of the
UEFA Europa League, opening a 1–1 draw away to Iceland's
Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar. In January 2012 he spent a week on trial at
West Ham United, but nothing came of it. In summer 2013, Costa was loaned to
Moreirense F.C. of the
Segunda Liga. He scored in wins at
S.L. Benfica B (2–1) and
C.D. Feirense (4–0) for the
eventual champions.
Marítimo Costa subsequently returned to the Portuguese top tier with
C.S. Marítimo. On 27 November 2015, he was
sent off in a 3–1 loss at Nacional in the
Madeira derby; in the reverse fixture on 2 April he scored a volley to open a 2–0 win. He was named
captain before the start of
2016–17, and signed new contracts in November 2016 and June 2019. On 12 January 2020, Costa played his 200th top-flight game in a goalless draw with
Vitória de Guimarães. Starting from that August, he signed three one-year contract extensions. In January 2023, Costa accused his
agent Miguel Pinho of attempting to bribe him to lose to
S.L. Benfica. ==International career==