Jorge Mendes “offers” Diego Costa to Inter and Napoli

After Gonzalo Higuain was sold to Juventus, Napoli has been desperately looking for a forward to lead their team next season. Their main target has been Inter’s Mauro Icardi, and so far the Nerazzurri have rejected all offers from both the Neapolitans as well as rumored advances from Arsenal, partially because Icardi is Inter’s captain and key striker but also because it would be difficult to find a replacement this late in the transfer window (a fact Napoli is discovering the hard way). Rumors suggest that superagent Jorge Mendes is trying to use this to get a transfer for his client.

Corriere dello Sport has reported that Mendes has offered Diego Costa to both Napoli and Inter. The Chelsea striker was looking to move away from the North London club to Atletico Madrid but after they signed Kevin Gameiro instead, his client would need to find a new home instead if Antonio Conte’s side signs Romelu Lukaku. The news site suggests that since Napoli needs a new high-profile forward Costa would fit the bill, or that Inter could use the 27 year old as a replacement if Icardi is sold.

So I’m going to say that this has about a 5% chance of actually happening (for him coming to Inter). First of all, this assumes that Conte signs Lukaku. Everton looks set on rejecting Chelsea’s advances for the Belgian striker and are even looking to offer him an improved contract to get him to stay (sound familiar?). Even if Chelsea does sign him Mauro Icardi has recently taken to Twitter expressing his love for Inter and the city of Milan (coincidentally after reports that Inter was opening talks to improve his contract) so it looks more likely than not that he stays at this point. Finally, I just don’t think Roberto Mancini is in any type of mood to deal with Pablo Osvaldo 2.0. If Aurelio De Laurentiis wants Diego Costa by all means go ahead, I don’t think anybody from Inter will try to stop him.