Sydney FC veteran Douglas Costa has urged Juventus to be patient with former Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz amid the latter’s troubled Serie A start. The Brazilian winger compared his compatriot with Bosnian playmaker Miralem Pjanic during a comprehensive interview with Gazzetta dello Sport.
Juventus went above and beyond to lure Luiz to Turin in the summer. The record-time Italian champions forked out €50 million and included Enzo Barrenchea and Samuel Iling-Junior as counterparts to sweeten the deal. However, the 26-year-old has yet to demonstrate his class in Serie A, mostly due to the lack of match fitness.
Costa, who won three league titles with Juventus between 2017 and 2020, believes his countryman has the quality to ‘carve out an important role‘ in Turin. The 34-year-old sees the ex-Villa star as a modern-day version of Pjanic. The Bosnian was among fan favorites at the Allianz Stadium during Juve’s purple patch between 2016 and 2020.
“Mire was a master. But Douglas Luiz’s quality is undisputed, and I’m convinced he will carve out an important role like Pjanic had in our Juventus,” Costa said. “I wish Douglas to win 3 Scudetti as I did.“
Costa also took stock of the conservative approach nurtured at Juventus, comparing it with Bayern Munich’s ‘total football.‘
“I came from a top club like Bayern, but Serie A is a particular tournament. To give you an idea: a 1-0 win at Juve was like a 5-0 win at Bayern.
“At Juventus, when we scored a goal, we closed the door… While at Bayern, we didn’t even stop after 4-5 goals. It’s a different mentality, and it takes time to assimilate. It took me several months.“
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