[REVISION HISTORY]

Filip Kostic and Kodai Sano sign for PSV

Updated 15 times since CLSTR started tracking revisions of this situation.

What changed

2026-08-23 16:20 UTC → 2026-09-10 20:49 UTC · added ~~removed~~

Filip Kostić, the 33-year-old Serbian left-back whose Juventus contract expired on 30 June, attracted interest from PSV Eindhoven, AEK Athens and Ajax after becoming a free agent on 1 July. In late July, AEK Athens entered advanced negotiations to sign Kostić, with coach Marco Nicolits and Luka Jović reportedly working to persuade him to join the Greek side while he paused responses to offers from Ajax. On 4 August, PSV confirmed the signing of Kostić on a two-year deal. Kostić, who previously played for FC Groningen, described himself as “happy and excited” to return to the Eredivisie and praised coach Peter Bosz. On the same day, PSV finalized the transfer of 22-year-old Japanese midfielder Kodai Sano from NEC Nijmegen for a fee reported between €14.5 million and €16 million. The move followed a dispute in which Sano refused to play in a Champions League qualifier against Olympiakos. While NEC director Carlos Aalbers called the situation a breach of agreement, Sano later explained in an interview with ‘De Telegraaf’ that he chose to avoid injury risks that could have jeopardized the PSV agreement. Sano noted that his mental focus was not entirely on the match due to the impending move and expressed gratitude toward former NEC manager Dick Schreuder. On 15 August, PSV secured their first Eredivisie victory of the season with a 2-1 away win against Excelsior. On 23 August, Sano made his first start for PSV in an Eredivisie match against FC Groningen. Playing in an anchor role, Sano completed the full match as PSV secured a 5-1 victory at the Philips Stadion, with goals from Ivan Perisic, Ricardo Pepi, and Sergiño Dest. By early September, Sano had established himself as a key player in Peter Bosz’s midfield.

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