Liverpool and Chelsea are both being presented in Portugal as realistic contenders for Diogo Costa, but the latest messaging from FC Porto suggests neither club will find a straightforward path to a deal.<\/strong><\/p>\n The Portugal international has just completed another outstanding season. Across all competitions, he kept 24 clean sheets in 48 matches. In the league, he conceded only 15 goals in 33 games.<\/p>\n However, fresh reporting from Portuguese outlet Record<\/strong>Porto are not planning to sell their captain. The newspaper states there is currently \u201calignment between everyone\u201d regarding his continuity beyond this summer.<\/p>\n That stance applies both to the club and the player himself.<\/p>\n The Portuguese newspaper argues that most elite European clubs already feel secure in goal. Because of that, Liverpool and Chelsea are presented as two of the few sides where a move genuinely makes sense.<\/p>\n Liverpool\u2019s situation is clearer<\/strong>. Of course Alisson Becker continues to attract interest from abroad, especially from Italy<\/strong>and the Reds are already being linked with long-term replacements.<\/p>\n Chelsea, meanwhile, continue to search for stability in the position. Despite heavy investment across the squad in recent years, goalkeeping has remained an unresolved issue at Stamford Bridge.<\/p>\n The report notes Chelsea would lack the Champions League attraction compared to Liverpool, yet they are still seen as a plausible contender.<\/p>\n One of the strongest new details from Portugal concerns Porto president Andr\u00e9 Villas-Boas.<\/p>\n The story says Villas-Boas has already challenged Diogo Costa to wear the club\u2019s iconic number 2 shirt next season \u2013 previously associated with legendary Portuguese keeper Jorge Costa. Inside Porto, that is being interpreted as another sign the goalkeeper remains central to the project.<\/p>\n There was also an emotional moment during Porto\u2019s title celebrations. Diogo Costa received a standing ovation after being substituted, and some supporters interpreted his reaction as a possible farewell.<\/p>\n The newspaper insists that was not the case. They\u00a0believe the goalkeeper was simply acknowledging the support he received throughout the campaign.<\/p>\n Diogo Costa\u2019s own stance is also important. The 26-year-old reportedly feels fully valued at Porto. He is one of the highest earners in the squad, captain of the side and a major figure at the club.<\/p>\n Because of that, he would only consider leaving for a genuine elite-level project. Liverpool and Chelsea can offer Premier League status and financial power, but Porto do not intend to negotiate from a weak position.<\/p>\n His release clause was reduced to \u20ac60m (\u00a351m) during his latest renewal, yet the report states Porto would still expect offers above \u20ac50m (\u00a342.5m).<\/p>\n For now, the focus remains on Portugal\u2019s World Cup campaign. A strong summer on the international stage would likely increase both Diogo Costa\u2019s market value and the pressure from clubs already monitoring him.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Liverpool and Chelsea are both being presented in Portugal as realistic contenders for Diogo Costa,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10848,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10847\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Liverpool and Chelsea named as logical destinations<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Porto acting like Diogo Costa is staying<\/strong><\/h2>\n
World Cup factor could change everything<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Liverpool](\"https:\/\/cdn.sportwitness.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/costapapers.png\")