What Porto's Alberto Costa could offer Arsenal or Man Utd from the right-back position

[p]Those deals that perhaps couldn't be done in the summer will get resurrected, whilst clubs who have struggled in the first part of the 2026/27 campaign will look to strengthen in various areas in order to re-establish themselves for the second half of the season.[/p][h2]Would Costa be a first choice or cover at Arsenal?[/h2][p]Thus far, Arsenal have continued where they left off in 2025/26, whilst [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/manchester-united/ppjDR086/"]Man Utd[/a] have dipped from the form they showed once [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/carrick-michael/phM8NElP/"]Michael Carrick[/a] took over from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/amorim-ruben/EiIHi8vU/"]Ruben Amorim[/a].[/p][p]In any event, two of England's most storied clubs will always want to improve where possible, and one area where both have struggled is in the right-back position.[/p][p]Though [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/timber-jurrien/hSaoLOM4/"]Jurrien Timber[/a] is fit at present, his injury record isn't the best.[/p][embed guid="1bd40d4e-d931-4d3f-8166-823f3656e2f1" url="https://x.com/Arsenal/status/1691159266336358400" social-type="twitter" /][p]Indeed, he's been sidelined on five occasions since the start of last season alone, and that's always going to leave [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/arteta-mikel/lAbHYaQM/"]Mikel Arteta[/a] reflecting on whether he needs a more reliable exponent there, or at the very least one who can provide a good level of cover when required.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/white-ben/pvGdJANj/"]Ben White[/a] has done well at doing just that, though he was thought to be leaving the club in the summer, despite having a contract until 2028.[/p][p]The defender stayed put with the North Londoners, and it remains to be seen whether he will become the regular right-back.[/p][h2]No competition at Man Utd for Diogo Dalot[/h2][p]For United, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/dalot-diogo/rZZKJVOS/"]Diogo Dalot[/a] has almost always been given the nod in that position as the Red Devils don't really have anyone who can do the job any better than Dalot can, though the standard of some of his recent performances have been questionable to say the least.[/p][p]It's no wonder then that both Premier League clubs are being linked with a January move for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/fc-porto/S2NmScGp/"]Porto's[/a] excellent [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/costa-alberto/EF4DUFQK/"]Alberto Costa[/a].[/p][image alt="Alberto Costa's recent player ratings" id="4bc5618e-2648-41ed-82ec-7323cbed9e33" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="342dabf1-cb33-4e09-84c0-7c2353265faf" original-width="2160" original-height="2702" /][p]The 23-year-old is rated at €65m and has established himself as one of the first names on the Porto team sheet.[/p][p]Since the beginning of last season, only four other players have started more games than Costa's 41, but no one comes close to his 97 tackles attempted, 61 of which were successful - also a squad high.[/p][image alt="Alberto Costa's heat map vs Benfica" id="038a894b-471f-41de-a391-7cc7a7bb759a" credit-line="Opta by Stats Perform" guid="cb561043-4dcd-4366-abe6-9daadb5b638b" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bednarek-jan/l4MMmL5S/"]Jan Bednarek[/a] and former Arsenal man [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kiwior-jakub/vRM9G8Jd/"]Jakub Kiwior[/a] are the only two teammates who have made more headed clearances than Costa's 54, and the same two players have put the right-back in the bronze medal position again for clearances more generally, of which Costa has made 92.[/p][p]In terms of one-on-one duels attempted, the 506 from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/froholdt-victor/MT3X8wqn/"]Victor Froholdt[/a] just shade Costa's 465, though the latter has won 242 compared to the former's 223.[/p][image alt="Alberto Costa's radar graphic - Primeira Liga 2025/26" id="5b88ec58-4248-4680-8c0f-cf5d9d12670e" credit-line="Opta by Stats Perform" guid="891dcbd1-2d01-471b-ae68-d2b2bf8f56ad" original-width="768" original-height="576" /][p]The winning of 82 aerial duels and 166 ball recoveries are statistics that are also in the right-back's favour.[/p][p]Creating 49 chances from right-back is a magnificent return, whilst his passing range has seen him complete 1,152 of his 1,425 attempted passes, for a success rate of 80.84%.[/p][image alt="Alberto Costa's recent career stats" id="058bf34e-4830-483b-9771-8f9313723a6b" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="c42c21e9-e44c-4355-acde-fe586bedf5f6" original-width="2160" original-height="2702" /][p]The one area he does need to work on is his crossing. Since the beginning of last season, Costa has made 97 crosses into the box, but only 24 have found their target.[/p][p]A one-in-four success rate isn't the greatest return, although his 24.74% showing is actually the fourth-best in Porto's first-team squad.[/p][h2]Juventus failure needs more clarity[/h2][p]There's certainly enough in Costa's game for clubs to be circling, and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/psg/CjhkPw0k/"]Paris Saint-Germain[/a] also apparently retain an interest at this point.[/p][p]Whether he offers enough to justify what is a fairly significant spend on a player who has only made 14 appearances for a team in one of the top five European leagues ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/juventus/C06aJvIB/"]Juventus[/a]) is another question mark that needs to be explored in more detail.[/p][p]He was signed by the Bianconeri on a four-year deal in January 2025, but was back in Portugal with Porto after a swap deal in July.[/p][embed guid="0d60338e-f9d0-40c5-bc15-0cc9b3898520" url="https://x.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1879591114258498024" social-type="twitter" /][p]Moves can sometimes not work out for a variety of legitimate reasons, of course, but arguably Arsenal and Man Utd won't want to be taking a chance on a player if they've had to shell out something like €65m. [/p][p]Particularly when one takes into account that Porto only paid €15m for his services.[/p][p]Perhaps his performances over the last 12 months have begun to convince clubs that Costa's Serie A sojourn was just a blip, and that he can still provide the level of performance that both Premier League sides are looking for.[/p][p]Whether that will tempt either into doing a deal will only be seen at some future point...[/p][infobox id="8a8311c3-81b3-440e-8b49-36091db073d1" /]