5 players Manchester United want to sign in January

#3 Douglas Costa (Juventus)

Juventus v Juventus U19 - Pre-Season Friendly

Douglas Costa is a 28-year-old right winger who plays for Juventus in Serie A. He also features for the Brazilian national team, having made 31 appearances since his debut in November 2014.

Costa can be utilised across the attacking width of the pitch, not just as a right winger, but also as an attacking midfielder and left winger.

The Brazilian began his career with Gremio, before making the move to Shakhtar Donetsk in January 2010 for £7m. This was where he rose to prominence, bagging four goals and five assists in just 20 appearances in his final season with the club. Inevitably, clubs began to shark the waters and it wasn't long before Bayern Munich swooped down and signed him for a whopping £27m.

Unfortunately, his honeymoon spell with Munich quickly began to fade, but Juventus came to the rescue in the summer of 2017 with a season-long loan deal. He impressed in Serie A, featuring in 31 games, assisting 12 and netting four times. He settled in swiftly and proved to be a stronger fit in the Serie A than the Bundesliga. Juventus eventually bought Costa for £36m last summer.

However, Costa now faces a huge obstacle at Juventus, after watching Cristiano Ronaldo sign for the club for £100m. Ronaldo has since cemented himself in the role that Costa was used so frequently in, meaning that the Brazilian has had to play second fiddle since then.

Rumour probability: 7/10

With Costa's importance to Juventus now lower than ever, he's on the search for his next club. Manchester United could be the ideal place for him, but Juventus would likely want a figure somewhere in the region of €40m (£36.12m) to let him go.

United could certainly afford this price tag, but they must decide whether they truly need him, especially when the likes of Anthony Martial and Alexis Sanchez are already competing for the position he's most comfortable in.