It was only a few days ago that it looked like Juventus fullback Alberto Costa was incredibly close to moving back to Portugal on a €20 million deal with one of his home country’s biggest clubs, Sporting. It would have meant that Costa’s Juve career lasted all of about six months and a handful of appearances, with a quick sale seeing him head home after such a brief time in Serie A.
Now, it doesn’t seem so certain that Costa is for sure a goner.
According to Portuguese news outlet A Bola on Tuesday,
Juventus — and especially manager Igor Tudor — are having second thoughts about selling Costa during the summer transfer window. When news first broke, reports suggested that it would be a deal of around €20 million for the 21-year-old fullback. But, according to reports from Fabrizio Romano and O Jogo, Sporting’s bid is more in the €13-15 million range with add-ons. Romano says that Juventus also want to insert a 10% sell-on clause as part of any potential deal if they are to sell Costa, with there also being other clubs interested in the player who joined from Vitoria Guimaraes back in January.
A Bola has also stated that Costa was a Sporting transfer target back in January before he ended up signing with Juventus on a deal worth an initial €13.4 million.
Understand Sporting CP have now submitted €13m plus add-ons bid to Juventus for Alberto Costa.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 15, 2025
Juventus want €15m fixed fee plus add-ons and 10% sell-on clause.
Sporting want to be fast and anticipate other clubs also keen on Costa.
https://t.co/okOUA4h5Lq pic.twitter.com/tAtEZwsTj3
At this point, though, it’s hard to tell where things actually stand. It was less than a week ago where Costa — who has appeared in 14 games in all competitions since his move to Turin — looked pretty much ready to jet back to Portugal and sign with Sporting. It was a deal, at the €20 million value, that at least allowed Juve to get some sort of capital gain out of it, even if it meant parting ways with a player who appears to have a role at the club if he were to stay.
And if Tudor is the one who is pushing for Costa to stay, then Juventus’ new-look front office is certainly going to have to get an even more enticing offer to actually part ways with him.
With Timothy Weah reportedly on the market this summer, there is no other natural option at the right wingback position other than Costa. How much that may be driving Tudor’s desire to keep Costa is probably a decent assumption. Costa was one of the few bright spots to come out of a turbulent final few months of the 2024-25 season — in a way, him actually getting to play on a fairly regular basis was a plus in of itself. And, outside of struggles against the immense attacking talent from Manchester City and Real Madrid, Costa did play well and showed that he could have a role going forward.
But now there’s the unknown of if he is actually staying or will be sold. At this point, it really is hard to say which will end up being the truth.
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