Villas-Boas and Al-Khelaifi met, but not yet over Diogo Costa | OneFootball

Villas-Boas and Al-Khelaifi met, but not yet over Diogo Costa | OneFootball

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·1 June 2026

Villas-Boas and Al-Khelaifi met, but not yet over Diogo Costa

Article image:Villas-Boas and Al-Khelaifi met, but not yet over Diogo Costa

Diogo Costa remains secure at FC Porto, at least for now. This morning, still in the wake of PSG’s victory over Arsenal in the Champions League final, L’Équipe outlined the broad lines of the two-time European champion’s summer transfer plan, and the name of the Dragons’ goalkeeper was once again linked with the Parc des Princes. Even so, newspaper A BOLA reports that no contact whatsoever has reached the blue-and-white board from the French club, so at this stage that alleged interest from the Parisians has gone no further than speculation.

What’s more, the presidents of the two clubs were together the day before yesterday at the final in Budapest, but according to information gathered by our newspaper, the Portuguese international was not on the table in the conversation between André Villas-Boas and Nasser Al-Khelaifi.


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On the other hand, the fact that there has been no concrete approach does not mean that Diogo Costa is not being monitored by PSG. At 26, the man between the posts for Porto and the Portuguese national team is one of the best goalkeepers in the world and naturally attracts the attention of Europe’s top clubs.

In addition, changes among the goalkeepers under Luis Enrique are expected. Russian keeper Safonov is the current starter, while Lucas Chevalier, signed in the summer of 2025 from Lille, wants to play regularly. The young French international is expected to discuss his future with sporting director Luís Campos, but L’Équipe also stresses that any possible departure will not be easy to complete, as Chevalier cost €40 million less than a year ago.

Even if changes do emerge in goal, it would not be surprising if the Parisians were to turn their attention back to Diogo, not only because of the Portuguese player’s status, which would allow him to immediately become one of PSG’s main options, but also because of the quality he offers in building play from deep areas, an attribute highly valued by Spanish coach Luis Enrique. FC Porto, for their part, do not want to give up their team captain, and the €60 million release clause gives the board some room to negotiate.

On Diogo Costa’s side, this is a time of calm and total focus. The Dragons’ number 99 – who has been handed the challenge by Villas-Boas of switching to the number 2 shirt, previously worn by Jorge Costa – is not worried about what may happen in the market at such an early stage of the close season and prefers to focus on Portugal’s participation in the World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

With no physical setbacks, Diogo knows he will be the undisputed first-choice goalkeeper for the national team, something that could also put him on a path to even greater market value, given the ambition Portugal will take to the Americas.

As for his future at the club where he was developed, with whom he is under contract until 2030, the goalkeeper remains committed to the Dragons. Even so, Diogo Costa also has his own ambitions, and an invitation to represent one of the giants of the Old Continent would not be out of the question. For now, however, that scenario is not on the table.

He will join pre-season later

FC Porto’s 2026/27 season is scheduled to begin on 1 July at the CTFD Jorge Costa, and Diogo Costa will be one of the absentees at the start of pre-season, as he is still expected to be competing at the World Cup. Besides the goalkeeper and team captain, the Dragons will have only two other representatives at the tournament: Stephen Eustáquio (Canada), who has already spoken publicly about his intention to return to the Dragão after his loan spell at Los Angeles FC, and Deniz Gul, whose place in Turkey’s final squad is still yet to be confirmed.

Returning to Diogo, who today joins up with the national team training camp at the Cidade do Futebol, the aim is to go as far as possible in the World Cup. In the worst-case scenario, if Portugal are eliminated in the group stage, they will play their final match in the early hours of 28 June and, even in that case, the goalkeeper would be entitled to an additional holiday period. But what the man guarding Portugal’s goal wants is to stay in the competition longer, preferably until 19 July.

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

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