Liverpool legend Steve Nicol seemingly takes dig at Tottenham over Costa links

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Former Liverpool defender Steve Nicol has taken a subtle dig at Tottenham Hotspur amid reports they are interested in signing Douglas Costa this summer.

The Juventus winger has made it onto Mauricio Pochettino’s transfer list according to Tuttosport, with Manchester United, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain and Internazionale also keen.

Costa has made just 24 appearances so far this term, only seven of which have been starts in Serie A. He is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury and has not featured since February 2.

The Brazilian, scorer of just one goal this season, will supposedly consider his options at the end of the campaign.

In the eyes of Nicol, who played for Liverpool between 1981-199, Costa would be a ‘typical’ Spurs signing.

The ESPN pundit said, as quoted by The Daily Express: “[He is] Somebody who has never quite fulfilled their potential, whether it was at Bayern [Munich] or even now at Juventus.

“You just need to look at Lucas Moura at Tottenham now, how well he’s doing under Pochettino. So this kind of smells and looks a little bit like a Spurs signing. Somebody who has unquestionable ability, just hasn’t quite produced it.

““I think it’s got Spurs written all over it”.

TBR’s view

Nicol did add that he wasn’t sure whether the notion he ‘hasn’t produced’ was down to his injury problems, but it certainly seems like a bit of a dig.

Costa’s spell at Juventus hasn’t been particularly fruitful, but he cost the Italians £35.2 million (BBC Sport) for a reason.

At Bayern, he scored 14 goals and registered 27 appearances in 77 games, and at previous club Shakhtar Donetsk he scored 38 and assisted 40 in 202.

The former defender seems to have implied that Tottenham don’t sign players at the peak of their powers, they tend to take players who are not necessarily performing for Pochettino to then coach.