Filip Kostic Joins PSV on Deal Through 2028
Filip Kostic joined PSV as a free agent, signed a two year contract and got the number 18 shirt. He returns to the Eredivisie after 12 years and is still waiting for a work permit.
The messages kept coming for months, and they always ended with the same line. Ivan Perisic had watched Filip Kostic from the opposite side of the pitch for years, first in Germany, then in Italy, and this summer he kept calling from Eindhoven, like a man who knew exactly what he was offering.
“He’d tell me every time: come here, it’ll be great for you, and together we’ll make life miserable for every opponent.”
That is how Kostic recounts Perisic’s calls, in a statement PSV released on August 6, the day the Dutch champions officially unveiled their new signing. The contract runs two seasons, through June 2028, and the Serbia international wears the number 18 shirt in Eindhoven.
A free agent, no transfer fee
Kostic’s contract with Juventus expired in June, so he arrived in the Netherlands as a free agent. PSV paid nothing for him, a rare thing this summer for a club that has been spending freely: they brought Sven Mijnans in from AZ for 13 million euros, and Kodai Sano arrived from NEC. Kostic is the club’s third summer signing, filling the gap left when Salah-Eddine departed.
He is 33 years old and comes from Kragujevac. He covers the entire left side, from fullback to winger, and PSV brought him in as a player meant to play from day one, not as an investment for two years down the line.
What does Kostic bring to Peter Bosz’s team?
Running, crosses and game intelligence. Coach Peter Bosz knew him as an opponent, and Kostic says the conversation with him settled his mind.
“I remember how well organized the coach’s teams always were whenever I played against him.”
PSV’s director of football Ernest Stuart explained the move without dressing it up.
“Filip has proven himself structurally at the highest level. In everything we notice that he is still incredibly motivated and ambitious, and that is exactly what we are looking for. With his quality, mentality and experience he brings a lot of positive things to our team. We are very happy that Filip chose PSV, and we have great confidence that he will be of great value here.”
He already played the Eredivisie, 12 years ago
This is not Kostic’s first Dutch contract. From Kragujevac’s Radnicki he moved to Groningen in 2012 and stayed there until 2014, then went on to Stuttgart. After that came Hamburger SV and Eintracht Frankfurt, where he reached the peak of his career and won the Europa League. With Juventus he won the Coppa Italia, and he spent the 2024/25 season on loan at Fenerbahce.
He has 72 caps for Serbia. He played at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups and at the 2024 European Championship.
AEK fought hardest for him
The Eindhoven offer was not the only one on the table. Athens club AEK, led by Serbian coach Marko Nikolic, pushed hardest, while Panathinaikos, Benfica, Fenerbahce and Venezia had also shown interest earlier. Kostic chose the club playing in the Champions League.
There is also a detail Dutch reports leave out. Kostic is the second Serbian footballer to leave Juventus this summer, and Dusan Vlahovic, who walked out the same door, still has no club. Kostic got his move done first, without waiting for anyone to set his price.
When can he play?
The work permit has not arrived yet, so Bosz cannot call on him for now. While the paperwork is pending, Kostic trains with the squad, and the club has not given a date for when it expects a resolution.
For PSV this looks like a smart move. A player with 72 caps for his country and a Europa League medal, signed without a transfer fee, joining a team headed into the Champions League group stage, is hard to get wrong. The only question is how long it will take him to find his rhythm in a league he last played at age 21.
