Juventus star Douglas Costa could move to Manchester United this summer as part of a swap deal, according to the latest reports from Italy. The Daily Mirror claimed in December, United had finally agreed to meet Jose Mourinho’s long-standing request to add another winger to his frontline – and that forward Douglas Costa was the man the club had already lined up.
Italian TV channel Rai Sport then stated that a £53.9m offer has been made for the Juventus winger, which would make him the fourth most expensive United signing in history, marginally behind Angel di Maria.
Costa then potentially dropped a hint over his future after he recently ‘liked’ a Twitter post linking him to a Manchester United move. The Brazilian, 28, has three and a half years left on a contract he signed when he moved to Italy permanently in the summer.
Now, Italian paper Tuttosport offer an update, claim that Costa could still end up at Old Trafford as part of a deal that brings Paul Pogba back to Juve. They state that the Serie A champions refused a €60m offer in recent weeks for Costa, who they consider unsellable, but that the idea of using him to get Pogba back is tempting.
On Tuesday night, Manchester United suffered the heaviest home defeat in the club’s European history in losing 2-0 at home to Paris Saint-Germain. Second-half goals from Presnel Kimpembe and Kylian Mbappe earned PSG, without Neymar and Edinson Cavani due to injury, a comfortable win at Old Trafford on Tuesday. To make matters worse for the Premier League side, both of PSG’s goals were created by former United winger Angel Di Maria, who enjoyed a memorable return to the club.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side had won 10 of his 11 previous games in charge across all competitions but injuries to Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard proved damaging to their hopes of reaching the quarter-finals. United will have it all to do in the second leg as none of the previous 34 teams to lose a home first leg of a Champions League tie by two or more goals have ever progressed.