In preparation for the upcoming campaign, Manchester United appears to be close to acquiring a new custodian as Erik ten Hag completes his offer for Portuguese star Diogo Costa.
What’s new on Diogo Costa joining United?
The Daily Mail quotes Cofina Media as saying that United is putting the finishing touches on a proposal for Porto custodian Costa that will meet his release clause of £65 million.
According to journalist Simon Jones, David De Gea has a new deal with the team that is less than his previous wage of £375k per week, but United hasn’t approved it yet.
Costa’s deal with the Portuguese team runs through 2027, and despite recent statements to the contrary, it appears that he may be headed to Manchester. Costa recently stated that he wished to “continue” at Porto.
Diogo Costa might take over as United’s new ace.
Despite making two obvious mistakes that resulted in goals, De Gea received the Premier League Golden Glove award for preserving a league-high 17 clean sheets during the previous season. His growing brittleness between the posts was clearly shown in errors against West Ham United last month and Brentford last August. It appears that, despite his potential to remain with the Red Devils, the prospective acquisition of Costa might knock him down the pecking order.
The 6 foot 1 custodian had a fantastic season, allowing just 22 goals in 33 Liga Portugal games while maintaining 16 clean sheets, making 1.9 saves per game, and completing 0.6 successful run-outs per game, for a 96% success rate.
De Gea averaged 36.1 touches per game, 2.7 saves per game, and 0.3 successful run-outs per game, which may indicate that he wasn’t as at ease with Ten Hag’s style of playing out from the back.
Contrarily, Costa may be perfectly suited for this given his average of 42.6 touches per game, which highlights how at ease he is with the ball, and his 92% pass success rate from his own half, which implies he excels at launching assaults from his own box.
Should he sign with the team this summer, the 23-year-old will likely join fellow countrymen Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot at Old Trafford. Dalot was complimentary of Costa, saying: “I grew up with him and he’s my friend, there’s a wonderful bond between us.
I am fully aware of his potential to one day rank among the best in the world.
With this recommendation, Ten Hag will have to work really hard to bring the custodian to the Red Devils, and he might be crucial as the team attempts to qualify for the Champions League again the following year.