Last week, LA Galaxy announced the signing of the Brazilian winger Douglas Costa. Last Thursday, the Major League Soccer club said the winger completed an initial loan move from Brazilian club Gremio that will become a permanent deal to the end of the 2023 season.
Costa, who was with Gremio in Brazil’s second division on loan from Juventus, will finish out the loan with the Galaxy this summer, then play the next year and a half under contract to the team.
“After the conclusion of his loan, Costa, who will be added to the Galaxy’s roster as a Designated Player and will occupy an international roster slot, will be signed to a one-and-a-half-year contract through the end of the 2023 MLS regular season”, the club said on a statement.
The financial details of the agreement were not announced. But it is reported to be nearly $5 million.
The former Juventus and Bayern Munich forward scored three goals in 26 Brazilian Serie A appearances for Gremio last season.
“I had heard many positive things [about the Galaxy]. I know that it’s a winning team, but had not been winning for some time now. I take this as a motivator, to try something different and come here to bring LA Galaxy to the top again,” Costa told the reporters.
“Douglas is a world-class player and a proven champion at the highest level. His capacity to create and finish will add yet another level to our attack,” said LA Galaxy Head Coach Greg Vanney.
Costa started his career with Gremio before moving to Shakhtar Donetsk in January 2010 for a fee of 6 million euros. He won numerous trophies with Shakhtar, including a domestic treble in the 2010–11 season – Premier League, the Ukrainian Cup and the Super Cup. In 2015, he joined Bayern for 30 million euros, where he won two consecutive league titles. He was loaned out to Juventus in 2017 and won a domestic double with the club in his first season.
On 7 June 2018, Juventus made his loan move permanent. He added another two consecutive league titles in his next two seasons with the club and a Supercoppa Italiana title. On the deadline day of the 2020 summer transfer window, Costa returned to Bayern Munich on loan. In his last season with the Bavarians, he won the third Bundesliga title. Then he returned to Italy and was loaned to Gremio.
He has made 462 league and cup appearances at the club level, scoring 68 goals.
Costa has made 31 appearances for Brazil at the international level, scoring three goals. He was part of the squad that reached the quarterfinals of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
