Atletico Madrid have had quite a few world class strikers on their books in recent years.

From Fernando Torres to Sergio Aguero and from Diego Forlan and Radamel Falcao to Diego Costa, the list of strikers that have played for them is frightening and you could even go back to the 90s when they had Italy's Christian Vieri.

So how do clubs like Atletico keep getting their hands on these sorts of strikers, particularly the likes of Costa who has been somewhat under the radar until the last 18 months? 

It is down to superior scouting in Spain according to European football expert Graham Hunter who was speaking to Off The Ball last night:

"I genuinely still believe that Spain scouts better. I don't know if it's putting more resources into it. I genuinely believe, having met many scouts from the Premier League and Spain, that there are more astute and better trained people and better networks in Spain. Atletico represents that when it comes to strikers and Villareal also scouted well during the Pellegrini era. Sevilla also made something close to €100 million in terms of profits when they were buying Dani Alves for a €1 million, Luis Fabiano for €1 million and Julio Baptista for not much more."

Hunter also discussed the case of Diego Costa in-depth who has now switched his international allegiances from his birthplace of Brazil to Spain and Atletico Madrid's chances this season.

You can download the interview as part of the Football Show podcast on iTunes.

Raf Diallo will also be examining whether Atletico's success is sustainable in light of their massive debts. Read it in Euro Footy Focus tomorrow on Newstalk.ie.