According to the Daily Mail, Man United are interested in signing Juventus’ Brazilian international winger Douglas Costa in a swap deal involving Romelu Lukaku.
Daily Mail understands that the Red Devils had asked Juventus to include either Paulo Dybala or Costa as a part of a swap deal to let the Belgian go to Turin but it apparently seems that the Brazilian could be the one to head to Old Trafford this summer.
Dybala has also been heavily linked with a switch to United this summer but the Argentine is not too keen to depart Juventus at this stage of his career, and the Daily Mail understands that the Serie A heavyweights are more receptive to the idea of including Costa in the deal to bring Lukaku to Turin.
Lukaku managed only 12 goals in 32 Premier League appearances last term and struggled to get to grips with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s easy-on-the-eye quick-passing philosophy due to his lack of pace and technical abilities.
Costa, on the other hand, struggled for regular minutes at Juventus last season due to stiff competition for places following the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo at Turin, having managed a paltry 17 appearances in the Serie A.
The 28-year-old Brazilian ace contributed with 6 goals and 14 assists in all competitions for Juventus in the 2017-18 campaign, playing a key role in the club’s Serie A title triumph, but he was largely used as a fringe player in the first-team last season.
With still three years left to run on his current contract at Juventus, Costa’s desire to complete a move away from Turin makes perfect sense probably because even he knows that he is going to find it hard to compete with Ronaldo for a spot in the team.
Meanwhile, Man United have already spent big on burgeoning young talents Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Daniel James this summer, but it looks like the Red Devils are striving hard to get a few more deals over the line before the deadline in August.
Along with a new centre-back, United should also consider adding more firepower to their attacking ranks by bringing in players who perfectly suit Solskjaer’s philosophy.
United seemed to rely heavily on fast, agile and technically-gifted attackers with natural finesse in the second half of the previous campaign under Solskjaer, with players like Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard excelling under the new manager’s style of play.
To put things into perspective, it was there for everybody to see last season that Lukaku is a glaring misfit for Solskjaer’s philosophy and the Red Devils should not hesitate to cash in on him as a part of their ongoing squad overhaul this summer, having spent a fortune to sign him from Everton in 2016.
Equally, Douglas Costa, who is widely acclaimed for his lightning pace, devastating acceleration and bonafide goalscoring prowess, would be a good replacement for the Belgian at Old Trafford, and a perfect fit for the manager’s aesthetic one-touch attacking football.
Essentially a right-winger by trade, the Brazilian has an absolute wand of a left foot, which allows him to cut inside with pace and rip the opposition apart with his pinpoint crossing and powerful shooting abilities.
A technically-gifted player noted for his clever movement off the ball, drive, determination, close control, as well as solid upper body strength, Costa is not only adept at running at defenders but he is equally capable of creating and scoring goals for fun.
Apart from being a good fit for the manager’s style of play, the 31-cap Brazilian international is still very much in his prime years at 28 and his arrival would certainly add a lot of top-level experience to United’s attacking ranks.
Having plied his trade with heavyweights like Bayern Munich and Juventus, Costa definitely has the know-how to cut the mustard in the Premier League.
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Suffice to say, this swap looks likely to suit all parties well and United should try their level best to iron out an agreement with Juventus to bring Costa to Old Trafford this summer.
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