Perhaps there is no doubt as to which football star shone the brightest in Europe during the first month of the season. With his radiance, Douglas Costa dazzled the whole of Germany, which cannot help but be impressed by the incredible abilities of this player.
Profile
Name: Douglas Costa de Souza
Age: 24
Nationality: Brazilian
Clubs: "Gremio" (2002-2010), Donetsk "Shakhtar" (2010-2015), "Bayern" (2015-present)
Achievements: 5-time Ukrainian champion, 3-time Ukrainian cup winner
National team: 9 matches, 1 goal
Where was he until now?
We can't say that D. Costa emerged out of nowhere. Even at the age of 18, he was considered one of the most talented footballers in the world, linked with several of the biggest European clubs.
However, no move to the top European clubs materialized, so the young Brazilian made a somewhat unusual decision at the time – Donetsk "Shakhtar". Due to the large Brazilian contingent there, adapting for Costa was relatively easy, but the move to the relatively average and less dominant Ukrainian league in Western Europe seemed strange.
With each passing year, it seemed that the thoughts mentioned above were quite correct. European football fans had almost forgotten D. Costa - few watched the battles of the Ukrainian "Premier" league. The only opportunity for the Brazilian to showcase his talent was perhaps in the Champions League, where "Shakhtar" participated regularly.
The big clubs remembered D. Costa only in the summer of 2014, when he was already 23.
The war that began in Donetsk made many players rethink their future at the Shakhtar club. D. Costa started talking about wanting to leave Ukraine.
"Players risk their lives in that region," Costa said last year, but at the same time adding that he liked playing for "Shakhtar" and would like to stay there if the conditions were not dangerous.
Under such conditions, he stayed in Ukraine for another year, but this summer it became clear that D. Costa would indeed spread his wings.
At the beginning of the summer, he almost insistently requested a transfer to "Chelsea", showering compliments on the club and coach Jose Mourinho one after another.
"Playing for Chelsea is every player's dream. But more than anything, I want to work with the coach (J. Mourinho). He is a very smart strategist and has won everywhere he has trained," D. Costa recently said.
However, Mourinho decided that he did not need this Brazilian, as he already had Eden Hazard, Oscar, Willian, and Juan Cuadrado in his team.
Bayern to the rescue
The situation was seized by the Bayern club, who paid 30 million euros for the Brazilian. Constant injuries to Franck Ribery and poor form of Mario Gotze forced the German champions to look for alternatives.
"He is not yet good enough to start games," said Shakhtar coach Mircea Lucescu after the transfer. It seems that neither Bayern nor Lucescu, who coached Costa for five years, realized the level of player they had.
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