Tottenham Hotspur And Manchester United Brazilian Targets Touted For €65m Moves To Monaco

Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United could be gazumped by Monaco for the signatures of Douglas Costa and Alex Teixeira.

Spurs have been montitoring Costa's situation since the Brazilian became one of six Shakhtar Donetsk players who refused to join up with the club following a friendly fixture in Lyon earlier this month.

The forward, along with United target Teixeira, went AWOL after Donetsk was plunged into choas following a violent struggle between the Ukrainian military and pro-Russians in the city.

Players also grew increasingly concerned after Russian seperatists allegedly shot down Malaysian Airline flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine on 17 July, killing all 298 people on board.

The six players have since returned to pre-season training with Shakhtar but, with the Ukrainian crisis showing no signs of abating, Costa and Teixeira's futures remain unclear.

Now Ligue 1 club Monaco, whose €80 million sale of James Rodriguez to Real Madrid added spending power beyond the deep pockets of billionaire owner Dmitry Rybolovlev, are preparing a €65m double-swoop for the pair, according to French sports magazine L'Equipe.

Monaco made a €35m profit on Rodriguez and are looking to reinvest in players that can challenge the formidable Paris St Germain for the French league title, which kicks off on 8 August.

United's interest in Teixeira emerged after Roma's Dutch midfielder Kevin Strootman was ruled out of the World Cup with cruciate ligament damage.

The 24-year-old, who joined Shakhtar from Brazilian club Vasco de Gama in 2009, was viewed at Old Trafford as an alternative if Roma dug their heels in over Strootman.

Spurs joined a list of suitors for 23-year-old Costa which also included north London rivals Arsenal. It was thought Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino was willing to offer the playmaker a way out of Ukraine and was willing to countenance a one-year loan deal.

In his five years with Shakhtar, Costa has won five Ukrainian league titles and gained valuable Champions League experience but despite being touted as one of Europe's finest attackers he has never earned a call-up to the Brazilian first team.