City eyeing up £88m swoop for Costa just days after Brazil star joins Juve
MANCHESTER City are lining up a huge £88m bid for Juventus star Douglas Costa mere days after he joined the club on a permanent basis.
Despite surging to the Premier League title with a record points haul, City are expected to be active during the summer — and winger Costa could be one of the first big names to arrive.
The Brazilian arrived at Juve 12 months ago on a season-long loan following two mixed years at Bayern Munich.
During his first season in Serie A, he managed 31 appearances but only 18 of them came from the start.
He did, however, contribute four goals and Juve shelled out £35m to make the switch permanent earlier this month.
But the 27-year-old could be set to leave almost straight away should City offer Juve the chance to pocket £88m for the sale — an amount that the Italian giants surely couldn’t reject.
Meanwhile, Roberto Firmino still rates former Liverpool teammate Philippe Coutinho as “one of the best friends football has given me”.
Firmino and Coutinho spent two and a half years together at Liverpool before Coutinho’s January departure to Barcelona.
The pair still link up at international level for Brazil.
He said: “Every time we play for the Selecao we maintain that friendship. He’s an exceptional guy — one of the best friends football has given me.”