TEN things you should know about Arsenal target Douglas Costa

Here are 10 things you should know about Arsenal target Douglas Costa:

1. Douglas Costa de Souza, known simply as Douglas Costa, was born on September 14th 1990 in Sapucaia do Sul, Brazil.

2. He currently plays for Shakhtar Donetsk and in January 2010 signed a new five-year contract. However, it is known that Shakhtar are willing to sell the player for £12 million.

3. Douglas Costa made his competitive debut in the Europa League Tie against a 2-1 defeat against Fulham, and made his home debut in the second leg tie a week later.

4. At 5’7’’, Costa is fairly small, but possesses explosive pace for an attacking midfielder.

5. He has been described by the media in Ukraine as the next Ronaldinho.

6. Douglas Costa is obviously a gifted footballer with an eye for goal, and is also a free-kick specialist. Although, it is thought he will need to be nurtured and work on his temperament as he currently picks up a lot cards and can also lose his head.

7. Having already scored a brace of goals against Arsenal (albeit Arsenal Kiev) this season, he was described as the star of the game.

8. Arsenal had tabled a bid which included fellow Brazilian Denilson as part of the offer. However, Douglas Costa’s agent has said that Shakhtar have said no to the deal, and they just want hard cash for him.

9. Having had a fairly poor season for Shakhtar, most of his goals have been scored as a substitute – in 27 league appearances, Costa scored 5 goals.

10. Mircea Lucescu (Shakhtar head coach) has used Douglas Costa on both wings, with his ability to cut inside from the right proving a great goal threat almost every time.

Here is the lad in action:

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