Manchester United battle Chelsea in chase for £8m Douglas
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MANCHESTER UNITED boss Sir Alex Ferguson believes the £20million capture of Brazilian sensation Douglas Costa will ease the pain over Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure.Ferguson is determined not to miss out on the 18-year-old attacking midfielder who has attracted interest from big clubs with his performances for Brazilian side Gremio.
United have already lodged a couple of bids for the man labelled the new Ronaldinho but Gremio are holding out for £20m.
United are also on the trail of Atletico Madrid striker Sergio Aguero, son-in-law of Diego Maradona, who they see as a direct replacement for Carlos Tevez. But they won’t go anywhere near the £55m escape clause in the Argentinian’s contract.Ferguson is also interested in Aston Villa winger Ashley Young, but knows that the England player would not come cheap.
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Lol dunno he really tt good not... 20mil can sign better players...
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Risk....!
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but he has the potential to be world class?
if not can sell him if he is not good enuff.
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Manchester United are moving closer to signing Douglas Costa, the highly rated Brazil Under-20 midfield player, from Grêmio.
The Brazilian club are holding out for about £20 million — close to the release clause stated in the player’s contract — but United are reluctant to pay that much and hope that a compromise can be reached shortly.
United initially wanted to take Douglas, 18, on a three-week trial, but while that request was rejected by Grêmio, negotiations over a permanent deal are continuing.
Douglas would be United’s fourth signing of the summer after Michael Owen, Antonio Valencia and Gabriel Obertan, with senior sources at the club insisting that they have no interest in buying Samuel Eto’o, the Barcelona striker.
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so shall we hold a celebration at costa sands when this happens?
or perhaps i jumped the gun? wait until he proves he isnt a flop first?
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Originally posted by marcteng:
but he has the potential to be world class?
if not can sell him if he is not good enuff.
Lol if he not good enough then man utd sign him for 20mil, who will wan buy him again for 20mil if he suck. lol.
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Manchester United have cooled their pursuit of Douglas Costa, the Brazilian forward, amid frustration at the exorbitant demands of Grêmio.
United opened negotiations with Grêmio last month, but discussions are unlikely to resume this summer unless the Brazilian club dramatically reduce a prohibitive £20 million asking price for the teenager.
The bid for Douglas, 18, was thought to be an exception to Sir Alex Ferguson’s claim this week that United would make no further additions to their squad because of inflated prices in the transfer market, but it is among several proposed deals that have persuaded him about the lack of value this summer. The number of agents involved in the proposed transfer is another factor that has led the club to walk away from the negotiating table.
Of United’s three new signings, only Michael Owen was among the 22 players on the flight that took the squad to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, yesterday. Gabriel Obertan, the recruit from Bordeaux, was missing through injury — as were Nemanja Vidic, with an ankle problem, and Owen Hargreaves, who continues his rehabilitation from a long-term knee injury.
Antonio Valencia, signed from Wigan Athletic for a £16 million fee, was missing because of difficulties in obtaining a visa.
Under the terms of his transfer from Wigan, the Ecuador winger had to apply for a new work permit to stay in the United Kingdom. That protracted process is complete, but he has yet to secure the documentation to play in at least one of the four countries that United will visit on their four-match Asian tour.
They start in earnest with a match against a Malaysia XI tomorrow, followed by games in Jakarta, Seoul and Hangzhou.
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LOL scared they made another nani or anderson purchase lolx..
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20m for 18yrs old quite risky
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yes, but hopefully 20m will be whitted down to say 15m. 15m is a reasonable price, as ronaldo joined man utd for 12m plus in 2003 as a raw 18 year old.
looking at youtube, he got the skill to go past defenders and has outrageous skills like ronaldo when he was 18. I hope the player put in a transfer request to move to utd.
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Manchester United are trying to salvage a deal for the Brazilian Under-21 international Douglas Costa but face competition from Chelsea as they try to persuade his club, Gremio, to lower their valuation of the midfielder.
United are willing to pay an initial fee of £8m for the 18-year-old including various add-ons depending on his success at Old Trafford, but the deal looked to have faltered when Gremio opened talks by demanding £21m. The Premier League champions have made it clear they consider that to be exorbitant but, after several weeks of negotiations, Gremio have now relaxed their stance and the two clubs are attempting to reach a compromise for the latest player to be tagged in Brazil as "the new Ronaldinho".
An already complex series of negotiations has been further complicated by Chelsea's interest while Real Madrid have also been asked to be kept informed and Villarreal have submitted a bid of £6m plus add-ons. Manchester City had also shown tentative interest but have not followed that up with anything more substantial.
The picture is expected to become clearer next weekend when the influential deal-maker Chris Nathaniel travels to Brazil to try to clarify with Gremio exactly what they will accept before reporting back to the player's admirers. United are considered to be in the most prominent position, with the player favouring a move to England, but Chelsea's interest is genuine and it could become a matter of which club is willing to pay the most.
For a deal to Old Trafford to materialise, Gremio will have to accept that United will not pay what they consider to be over the odds for a player who has only just broken into his club's first team. David Gill, United's chief executive, has already informed Gremio that a deal is impossible at the current price. Chelsea, similarly, are not interested unless the players valuation is slashed to a more realistic mark.
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Lol from 20mil become 8.