Atletico salvaged a draw against newly-promoted Girona on Saturday, and Gibson believes the performance highlighted the need for attacking reinforcements.
He told 'Sky Sports', "I still think they are missing an out-and-out centre-forward that allows them to get up the pitch from deep defensive positions at times and to run the channels.
"The man we all know about [Costa] fits the bill perfectly. Whether or not that happens I don't know, but they've spent all that money trying to replace him when he left in the first place.
"They had Mario Mandzukic and Jackson Martinez in the past but it's clear in the way that Diego Simeone likes to operate, you do need that big, aggressive centre-forward with pace, who can run the channels and then allow the midfielders and full-backs to push forward.