English clubs tried but André Villas-Boas blocked Diogo Costa’s exit

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Portal dos Dragões

·2 September 2025

English clubs tried but André Villas-Boas blocked Diogo Costa’s exit

The possibility of a goalkeeper carousel on the last day of the market in England brought Diogo Costa into the orbit of Aston Villa, but the closing of the transfer window in the United Kingdom, by the end of yesterday afternoon, had the expected outcome: the captain of FC Porto remains in the goal of the dragons and away from the Premier League.

To contextualize: the potential departure of Emiliano Martínez to Manchester United would force the Birmingham emblem to look for a successor. The most pointed out options by the English press were Diogo Costa and Senne Lammens, from Antwerp. However, the one who headed to Old Trafford was the young Belgian, keeping Martínez in Aston Villa, at least for now, and therefore the transfer of the number 99 of the blue and whites to the Premier was ruled out. This was not, of course, the only reason for Diogo's stay at Dragão.

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On the side of the Porto SAD, the position on the goalkeeper, one of the most valuable assets of the squad led by Francesco Farioli, has always been unequivocal: Diogo Costa is not for sale. Anyone who wants to hire him will have to pay a significant amount - the administration led by André Villas‑Boas refers to the termination clause set at 75 million euros, an unusual value in the market for a goalkeeper. Remember that the most expensive goalkeeper ever was Kepa Arrizabalaga, transferred from Athletic Bilbao to Chelsea for about €80 million, in 2018.

Furthermore, a departure of Diogo close to the closing of the window in Portugal would leave FC Porto uncovered, without time to go to the market for a substitute, despite the trust placed in Cláudio Ramos and João Costa, the other goalkeepers of the main squad, and in the promises Diogo Fernandes and Gonçalo Ribeiro.

This scenario remains until the closing of other windows, namely that of Saudi Arabia, where Al Nassr continues to monitor the course of Diogo Costa.

Galatasaray, on the other hand, will have definitely dropped out of the race after having spent €33 million on the signing of Ugurcan Çakir. Rumors circulated about a new Turkish offer of about €25 million for the Portuguese international, but the board's response, as to the previous offer, would have been an immediate no from Villas‑Boas.

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