Douglas Costa has decided to end all rumors that he was in talks over a potential move in the summer transfer window. Agent Giovanni Branchini, who represents team-mate Mattia De Sciglio but not Costa, had claimed that a number of clubs including Manchester United had tried to sign the 28-year-old Brazil international.
The Juventus winger has stepped out and posted on his Instagram that this was hardly the case at all. In his story, Costa insisted that he is fully committed to Juventus.
"I'm writing to deny the baseless news published today, which said I was in negotiations with some clubs during the last transfer window," Costa wrote. "Since the start of this season, I've been clear that I wanted to stay here to win trophies and give blood for the Juve jersey.
Costa ended his post with an emphasis that his only agent is Junior Mendoza and he is no way represented by Branchini.
In an interview, Branchini claimed that Man Utd was highly interested with Costa, but neither former manager Massimiliano Allegri nor Maurizio Sarri would allow the player to leave.
From Gremio and Shakhtar Donestk, Costa left Bayern Munich for Turin three years ago, initially spending a year on loan in Serie A.
In his debut campaign, Costa managed 4 goals and 13 assists, but the last campaign had him on the sidelines due to several injuries. This season, Costa bounced back and started both Juve's league games, managing 3 assists in the exciting 4-3 win against Napoli.
Things continue to look good for Juventus, whose online followers have jumped up from 50 million to 83 million, thanks to Costa's popular teammate, Cristiano Ronaldo. Adidas will also add their yearly input and shirt sponsors Jeep will also up their deal to around £45 million.
The figures mock any doubts over the value Juventus got in signing ex-Manchester United attacker Ronaldo, 34, from Real Madrid for £99m.
Reports in Italy reveal that Ronaldo has been a dream buy for the Italian club, who has helped improve the club's social media standing. This has allowed Juventus to negotiate with their main sponsors.
Adidas is prepared to shell out around £50 million up to 2021, while Jeep will increase their annual sponsorship to £45 million from £14 million.
While Juve is currently raking a ton of cash from sponsorships, it would still pretty much be a huge spending for the club had they pulled of a reported £90 million bid that included Paulo Dybala for Neymar.
