Diogo Costa became an overnight star in European football after he saved Portugal’s blushes by producing a brilliant performance in the Round of 16 clash against Slovenia.
After Cristiano Ronaldo’s missed penalty in the extra time, it was Diogo Costa, who made a crucial last-minute save to deny Benjamin Sesko before turning up big time in the penalty shootout.
Following his performance against Slovenia, one would imagine Diogo Costa will be in high demand in the ongoing summer transfer window.
However, had things gone differently a few years ago, Costa would have been a Barcelona player now.
Barcelona could have signed Diogo Costa in 2022
As revealed by Que Thi Jugues (h/t Diario SPORT), Barcelona were offered the chance to sign Costa in early 2022.
Diogo Costa was the hero vs Slovenia (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images)
At the time, the Barça goal was covered by Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Neto. However, the latter was tired of playing second fiddle to the German and wanted to leave Camp Nou.
Aware of the situation, superagent Jorge Mendes had swiftly offered Barcelona the chance to sign Diogo Costa for a fee of just €15 million.
Barcelona, however, were not in a situation to spend such an amount for a goalkeeper. It must be remembered that the club were fresh from not being able to renew the contract of Lionel Messi.
That is why Joan Laporta was under the pressure to not spend a fortune on a goalkeeper. In any case, Barcelona had never considered the possibility of signing the Portuguese international.
Two years on, Diogo Costa still plies his trade for FC Porto. But given his performances in Euro 2024, it will be interesting to see how his future transpires in the coming months.
Source link : https://barcauniversal.com/barcelona-could-have-signed-portugals-euro-saviour-for-e15m-in-2022/
Author : Connell Edgar-Jones
Publish date : 2024-07-02 16:44:19
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