Sydney FC head coach Ufuk Talay is unsure if Brazilian superstar Douglas Costa will return to the club for the Isuzu UTE A-League 2025-26 season, though he is “dying to get back”.
Sydney are preparing for an Australia Cup quarter-final against reigning Isuzu UTE A-League premiers Auckland FC on Saturday, however, former Bayern Munich, Juventus and Brazil attacker Costa remains in his native Brazil.
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The 34-year-old impressed in his first season in the Harbour City, where he scored four goals and set up another five in the Isuzu UTE A-League. He added another two goals and three assists in the club’s historic run to the AFC Champions League Two semi-finals.
However, with the transfer window set to close in September and the Isuzu UTE A-League season fast approaching, Sydney are drafting contingency plans in case of a Costa exit.
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“There’s no date (for a return). It’s still ongoing at the moment,” Talay told reporters when asked about Costa. “We’re supporting him through this.
“We want him back. He wants to come back. There’s no definite timeline.
“But for us at the same time, we’re thinking ahead. If things don’t go to plan, we don’t need to be sitting on our hands.
“We’re hoping we can get him here as soon as possible, but in the background, there’s some work being done that if it doesn’t pan out how we want it to be, that we will have to move forward in another direction.”
This off-season, Sydney have signed Al Hassan Toure, Rhys Youlley, Akol Akon, Aussie young gun Paul Okon-Engstler and former Bundesliga and Ligue 1 defender Marcel Tisserand along with academy graduate Mathias Macallister.
The Sky Blues have also farewelled Patryk Klimala (end of loan), Andrew Redmayne, Jaushua Sotirio (end of loan), Jaiden Kucharski, Max Burgess, Anas Ouahim, 2024-25 Golden Boot winner Adrian Segecic and Socceroo Anthony Caceres.
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Talay added: “The reality is he wants to come back and we want him back.
“I think the situation is unknown in the sense of a timeline.
“But we’re aware as a team and a club that the transfer window is closing pretty soon and we have to make sure we’re not left in the lurch without getting a player across the line as well.”
“We need to be wary and smart as a club,” Talay continued.
“He (Douglas) is dying to get back. He is following his program that we’ve given him. But it’s still isolated training and we want him in a team environment. We want to get him here as soon as possible.
“The reality is, we have to make a decision if it comes to a point that if it’s not going to work out in favour of Douglas and the club, we need to make a decision moving forward that we need to do some work to replace him if the circumstances don’t allow it to work out the way we want.”
Another Brazilian facing an uncertain future at Sydney FC is former Serie A midfielder Leo Sena.
The 29-year-old, who previously played for Spezia and Atletico Mineiro, was involved in five goals across all competitions last season, including four assists.
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“It’s a bit of a mixture with Leo at the moment,” Talay revealed.
“Mentally and physically, (he’s) not in the place we want him to be and I think he understands that as well.
“He is still part of the group and here with the team but moving forward, we will see how that pans out.”
