Reported Newcastle United and Leicester City target Tete ‘has everything as a player’ according to Shakhtar Donetsk team-mate Taison, but it is too soon to label him the second coming of Douglas Costa, in quotes reported by Revista Colorada.
At the age of 29, a man who has tasted glory on an annual basis at Bayern Munich and Juventus is firmly established as one of the most effective and successful wingers in modern European football.
But before Costa was burning full-backs alive with his searing pace at the very top level, the Brazil international was dominating Ukrainian football in the iconic orange and black stripes of Shakhtar Donetsk.
Like Costa, Tete moved to Eastern Europe from Gremio and, considering that he is blessed with the same explosive acceleration and eye for goal, it is no surprise that comparisons have been drawn between Shakhtar stars past and present.
Both Newcastle and Shakhtar have been linked with Tete, via Globo Esporte in May.
And a man nicknamed the ‘Hurricane’ back home in Brazil added a few more pounds to his price-tag on Saturday, scoring two second half goals to seal yet another Ukrainian league title for Shakhtar in a 3-2 victory over Oleksandria.
But team-mate Taison is determined not to put even more pressure on a player who is already having to deal with the growing weight of expectation.
“He’s a boy who a big future. He has everything as a player. He is still young, 19 to 20 years old, he will grow a lot,” fellow Brazilian Taison says. “And he will learn many things too.
“But I can’t say that he will become Douglas Costa. I saw Douglas doing unbelievable things on the pitch.”
Costa hoovered up trophy after trophy during five silver-coated years at Shakhtar before joining forces with Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich.
Don’t expect Tete, however, to stick around in Ukraine for anywhere near as long as that.
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