Douglas Costa has revealed the backstory of how Juventus beat Inter Milan to his signature in the summer of 2017.
The Brazilian spoke to Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport in this week’s SportWeek insert, via FCInterNews. He explained that a conversation with national teammate Alex Sandro led to the move.
This summer, Costa made the move to Sydney FC.
The Brazilian has been out of European football for a few years now. He has had spells with the likes of Gremio, LA Galaxy, and Fluminense.
However, there was a period where Costa was right at the top of the European game.
The Brazilian built his reputation with Shakhtar Donetsk.
And in 2015, Costa made the switch to Bayern Munich. He spent two seasons with the German giants, winning the Bundesliga title on both occasions.
Then in 2017, Costa made the switch to Juventus.
Costa spent three seasons playing for the Bianconeri between 2017 and 2020. He won the Serie A title on all three occasions, playing under Max Allegri and Maurizio Sarri.
Then, in the 2020-21 campaign, Costa was back on loan at Bayern from the Old Lady.
Douglas Costa Reveals How Juventus Beat Inter To His Signing
Whilst Costa was never quite an integral player for Juventus, he certainly made his contribution with his pace and dribbling ability in attack.
The Brazilian played a role in the Bianconeri winning silverware before their run of dominance in the Italian game came to an end.
But as Costa himself has revealed, he could very well have joined Juventus’s Derby d’Italia rivals instead.
Costa explained that “One time, while we were in Australia with the Brazil national team, I told Alex Sandro that I’d be joining him in Italy.”
“Because Inter wanted to sign me,” the Brazilian explained.
“And he said, ‘No, you have to come to Juve,’” Costa said of his conversation with Sandro.
“And then a minute later, he had [former Juventus Sporting Director] Fabio Paratici called me.”
