Dorival wants 2023 favourite back, now a free agent after fleeing war | OneFootball

One of the many topics that led Dorival Júnior to spend hours in talks last Thursday (14) with the football board before signing his return to São Paulo was reinforcements. Warned about the club’s financial issues, the coach heard from Rafinha and Rui Costa that the priority would be players who could arrive on loan or without a transfer fee. That was enough for him to pull out a suggestion, one very familiar to Tricolor fans.

Even though he said in his introductory press conference that he did not demand signings from the board, Dorival did draw attention to the possibility of making inquiries about 23-year-old Talles Costa, a midfielder developed at Cotia who has been a free agent since late March, when he terminated his contract with Ukraine’s Polissya because of the problems caused by the war between the country and neighboring Russia.

Costa is something of a favorite of Dorival’s. Although he was rarely used in practice during the coach’s last spell at the club, in 2023, Dorival always spoke internally about the player’s qualities. He was sold only after Dorival left for the Brazilian national team at the beginning of the following month.

As AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR has learned, Dorival even went so far as to recommend the player to Corinthians, the club where he was working before returning to the Morumbi side.

Even after more than two years in Ukraine, São Paulo remains the club for which the youngster has played the most: 52 matches, with one goal and two assists. While at Tricolor, he also won the U-17 World Cup with Brazil in 2019.

At São Paulo, the youngster won the 2021 Paulista Championship and the 2023 Copa do Brasil. At Polissya, he played 45 matches, including in the Conference League, scoring one goal in the European tournament.

The fact that Costa is a free agent would make a deal easier. Even more so because it is his former club, for which he himself said in a recent interview with the outlet ‘Globo Esporte’ that he has special affection. There had been no official start to negotiations by the time this report was published.

Speaking to the report, a source close to Dorival praised the youngster, highlighting his versatility. He can play as a holding midfielder, a linking midfielder, and even as a central midfielder, helping both defense and attack. In other words, in this person’s view, he would be a good backup for Marcos Antônio.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.