Several Brazilian media claim that Barcelona is interested in Grêmio left wing midfielder and Brazilian youth international Douglas (17). He is described by a coach as a player with a great ball handling who is eager to learn. Douglas can also play as attacking midfielder or second striker.A former team-mate says the following about Douglas: "It's a player who is very technical, very fast, very skillful. He has a great view, knows how to organize the game, has a great pass to assist the forwards. And he works really hard, it's a good guy, very modest. He really enjoys it if he can let others score."
Grêmio general director Rodrigo Caetano, who says he hasn't heard anything from Barcelona, has admitted that the club needs to sell players to keep the financial situation of the club in balance. Rumours go that Douglas would have a buyout clause of around 8 million euro°. Although that has not been confirmed, it is believed that selling Douglas could be the solution to keep several first team regulars at the club.
César Bottega, the agent of the player, said to Brazilian newspaper Zero Hora that Barcelona has been watching Douglas: "Last week I handed them some dvd's about him and Tiago Duarte, who I also represent and who is followed since some time by Villareal. And they are clearly most interested in Douglas." The player has a contract until the end of 2009 and Grêmio wants to renew that until 2013 once Douglas turns 18 in September.
Douglas Costa de Souza is playing for the Juniores team of Grêmio and is expected to be promoted to the first team next season. The midfielder already played for the Brazilian U-20 and is now concentrated with the Brazilian U-19 who will play some friendly games in the coming weeks.
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° 8 million euro =
ReplyDelete13 million us dollar
6,5 million british pound
8mil Euro is pretty steep to stash this kid in the "Segunda B" until/if he's ready don't you think? Of course if and when he get's promoted to the first team back home his price tag is bound to rise even higher I suppose.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's really the policy of Barcelona to spend big for 17-18 year olds.
ReplyDeleteMost of those rumours about young south-american players are started by the agents of the player who want to get European clubs interested in their player.
I'm nevertheless curious where guys like him will end up.
new ronaldihno.. trust me..
ReplyDeleteHe is the new Ronaldinho, i honestly would spend 5-8 mil euro for the kid, he's excellent! He is very promising and that fee wont stay that low for long
ReplyDeleteHow do you know, Nick, you already saw him in action? Are you brazilian?
ReplyDeleteNow you guys have piqued my interest! Are there any clips available of him? I'm curious to see the kid in action, even if its just a glimpse. I'm also curious as to how you guys know so much about him?
ReplyDelete