Douglas Costa will not be retained by Bayern Munich at the end of his loan spell from Juventus. He has made just six starts so far, featuring for a total of 660 minutes over in 20 appearances due to the stellar competition and a foot injury. The Bianconeri are already working to find a new team for him in the summer and Gremio have emerged as a possible destination, Goal.com reported.
The attacker started his career with the Imortal Tricolor before being acquired by Shakhtar Donetsk in 2010. Coach Renato Cantaluppi discussed the potential signing in a presser: “I have spoken with Douglas Costa multiple times and he is interested. However, it is up to the club to evaluate the economic elements of the deal, which are above my paygrade.”
The winger is currently making €6M plus bonuses and his contract will expire in June of 2022. He is poised to leave Juventus in the summer whether or not the transfer to Gremio indeed materializes. The management had already decided to move on from him due to his frequent injuries and some questionable behaviors. He was originally acquired for €40M in 2018, but his spell in Turin went sideways after a promising first campaign.
Since they could not find a permanent solution, they loaned him back to the German club in October to spare his salary for a year. In Bavaria, he was thoroughly outplayed by the likes of Leroy Sane, Kingsley Coman and Serge Gnabry and also 18-year-old Jamal Musiala was seeing minutes over him. He then suffered a metatarsal fracture in his right foot in mid-February.