Douglas Costa is Sky Blue, but is this a Del Piero 2.0 for Sydney FC and the A-League?

Late Sunday afternoon, Sydney FC fans and the A-League as a whole were put on notice by a social media post from the Sky Blues teasing a mysterious new Brazilian signing.

Fast forward 15 hours, a Fabrizio Romano tweet, and multiple international-reaching headlines later, Douglas Costa is a Sydney FC player.

Arguably Sydney’s first true bums on seats marquee signing in the A-League Men since Alessandro Del Piero in 2012, Costa arrives with clear expectations: get people talking about the A-League again and embarrass defenders in the league.

A former Juventus and Bayern Munich player who has won 24 trophies in his career, once considered a global superstar, and a World Cup star for Brazil, his pedigree can truly only be bettered by World Cup winner and Sydney marquee predecessor Del Piero.

At his peak, Costa was valued at €55 million (AU$90.7 million), making him worth more than nearly all the A-League squads combined. In the 2010s, Costa was one of the most exciting players in Europe, often involved in transfer rumours with the likes of Manchester City.

Lightning fast, filled with a grab-bag of rainbow flicks, Cruyff turns, and the innate ability to score a worldie, this is exactly the type of marquee you want. Can he be Del Piero 2.0? Sydney FC and the league will certainly hope so.

Costa comes to the A-League with experience as a marquee player, having played 50 times for L.A. Galaxy from 2022 to 2023, where he occasionally stood out with the flair he often displayed during his European peak, albeit not consistently enough.

However, it’s not all rosy when looking at Costa’s signing through a lens of scepticism – or perhaps realism. After all, many fans still remember recent failed marquees like Daniel Sturridge and Nani.

The cynical eye will glance at his poor form and lack of minutes at Fluminense, where he played just 10 matches at an average of 31 minutes per appearance. Costa has had a poor injury record since the early 2020s, missing nearly 323 days of football, mostly during his time at L.A. Galaxy, according to Transfermarkt.

There are also questions about attitude. During his Juventus days, there were issues surrounding both lack of discipline and lack of footballing focus, with managerial staff concerned he lacked professionalism and the consistency to reach another level.

For Sydney, however, this is a calculated gamble on the pitch.

Costa adds much-needed experience to a youthful Sydney FC side and is a remarkable replacement for outgoing Slovakian winger Robert Mak on name value alone. For Sydney’s young squad, having someone like a 31-time Brazil international around can only be a positive.

Players who came up during Del Piero’s time at Sydney often remarked about the impact the World Cup winner had on them individually, how he lifted the standards of those around him in training, and what his professionalism brought to the team.

If Costa is as good as he’s shown he can be, he should be a contender for the Johnny Warren Medal and help get Sydney into a title challenge after three topsy-turvy seasons.

This move also sees Sydney return to “Bling FC” territory for the first time in over a decade. After Graham Arnold reshaped the club into the “killbot factory,” there was less desire for household names and more focus on lesser-known talents who would become A-League stars. Bobo, Adam Le Fondre, Joe Lolley, and Adrian Mierzejewski were all terrific players, but none reached the name-brand status (or the asking price) of a Del Piero or a Douglas Costa.

There is a lingering feeling this may not be a signing Ufuk Talay would have pursued, as his managerial career has focused on unearthing diamonds in the rough. This move also comes with significant pressure from higher-ups, but few managers would turn down a resume as impressive as Costa’s.

It must also be noted that in the current financial straits the A-Leagues are in, Costa’s arrival is both a shock and an adrenaline hit of good news, and with that comes plenty of pressure.

Costa will need to perform on the pitch to repay a sizable investment made solely by the club, with the Australian Professional Leagues not involved in this deal as they had been in previous deals for marquee players.

Off the pitch, he’ll need to be everywhere for Sydney FC in marketing.

Carrying with him an army of 13 million social media followers and links to some of the world’s greatest players, Costa is another chance for the league to regain some clout it has lost to rival leagues like Major League Soccer and the Saudi Pro League.

His signing will be key in help Sydney keep their home attendance numbers on an upward trajectory. The Sky Blues have averaged 15,742 fans since returning to Allianz Stadium in Moore Park, with the Brazilian enclaves of Sydney’s eastern suburbs not far away, and his history at Juventus appealing to Sydney’s large Italian diaspora, just as Del Piero did before.

In two years, when his contract is set to expire, we’ll have a rough idea of the impact Costa has had on the A-League. He desperately needs to hit the ground running. But for now, it looks set to begin in Sydney’s south when the Sky Blues play Hong Kong side Eastern in the Asian Champions League on September 18.