Juventus will need to cut ties with a few veteran players this summer, just as they did last year, in order to clear up wage space for some big acquisitions. Brazilian winger Douglas Costa is one of the players at the top of the list, but it will be difficult to find suitors who can afford his wages.
The good news is that Juve have taken the first step in the right direction to offloading the highly talented – but also highly prone to injury – Costa.
According to a report from Tuttosport, as relayed by TNT Sports out of Brazil, Gremio and Juventus have come to an agreement over a Douglas Costa transfer. But the next issue in getting a deal done officially is the bigger hurdle, and that is finding a way for the Brazilian Serie A side to accept the Italian Serie A side’s player’s wages.
Costa currently makes six million euros in wages at Juventus and is on loan at Bayern Munich, who were his former club before moving to Italy. Bayern have no use for Costa beyond this season, hence why the Bianconeri are searching for a new landing spot.
Juventus winger Douglas Costa could head to another former club of his
So Costa could go from one former club (Bayern) to another (Gremio). The 30-year-old attacker began his senior career at Gremio, having been a youth prospect for them. A couple of seasons later he landed in Europe with Shakhtar Donetsk, and then Pep Guardiola plucked him for the Bundesliga’s record champions.
As my esteemed colleague Jyotirmoy Halder recently penned, a move back to Brazil looks like the best move for Costa going forward. But we must see if the veteran player sees this the same way. A hometown move could be excellent for him, however, when it is his wages that must be cut as his career winds down, that is a tough decision to make.
Let’s see how negotiations develop. But from the Bianconeri’s perspective, getting an agreement from club-to-club with Gremio has to be seen as positive news. It is a positive for Gremio, too, because we know Costa has the quality to help this club in the league next season.