Red Star Closing In on Valencia Center Costello

The phone lines between Belgrade and Valencia have barely gone quiet these past few days. While Red Star fans wait for the first name to carry the stamp of the new era, the club’s offices are running a quiet race to close the deal before someone else slides an offer across the table. The name running through every conversation is Met Costello, the American center the red and whites are chasing as their first serious addition of the summer.

Costello is no stranger to those who follow European basketball. In a Valencia jersey he showed he can hold the paint, set screens on time and be a genuine weapon in the pick and roll, which is exactly the profile the new Red Star is after. By all accounts the talks have reached their final stage. A one-year contract is on the table, and what works in Belgrade’s favor is that the player himself has signaled a wish to pull on the red and white shirt.

Why is Costello Ibon Navarro’s first target?

The new coach did not pick at random. Ibon Navarro is a man who builds his team around a strong frontcourt, and a center of Costello’s mold is what he needs as the backbone of the defense and a reliable scoring point under the basket. When a coach states clearly who he wants, the club then knows where to aim its energy in negotiations, so it is no surprise the deal is being pushed this hard.

For Red Star this is more than a single signature. Rebuilding the frontcourt is a topic that opens up at the club every summer, and a quality EuroLeague center is goods that get snapped up fast. If the red and whites manage to seal the deal, they send a message that they are entering the new season seriously and that Navarro’s vision of the game is taking its first concrete shape. Ambition in Europe’s top competition is measured not in words but in signatures, and this would be the first one that really says something.

Of course, as long as there is no official statement, caution is mandatory. In the transfer world a deal can collapse in the final minute, so here too everyone is waiting for the ink to dry before the champagne comes out. The club is silent for now, which in situations like this is often a sign the finish line is near, though it is no guarantee everything is done.

What comes next on the recruitment front?

If the deal closes, Costello would be only the first domino. Red Star rarely stop at one name, and voices from the club speak of an intention to strengthen at other positions too, including the point guard spot. The summer transfer window is only just gathering pace, so the coming weeks will show how quickly the red and whites assemble the skeleton of Navarro’s first squad.

For now we wait for the official word from Belgrade. The deal looks close, the player wants to come, the coach wants him and the club is pushing, but in basketball nothing counts until it is signed. I think Red Star simply have to land this first blow this summer, because how you start is how you carry on. So, do you believe Costello is the right name for the red and whites’ new frontcourt?