Douglas Costa has once again been forced to withdraw from a Brazil squad because of injury.
The Bayern Munich forward will now miss World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Paraguay.
He was forced out of both the Copa America Centenario and the Olympic Games last year, before missing four qualifiers.
Douglas Costa’s loss, however, will be another’s gain as coach Tite and his staff are left mulling over their options for a last-minute replacement.
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Paris Saint-Germain’s Lucas Moura, Palmerias captain Dudu and Shakhtar Donetsk forward Taison will be among those anxiously checking their phones over the next 24 hours.
All three have been called into the squad since Tite’s June 2016 appointment. Lucas Moura, in particular, will be hoping to receive a call after Tite and his staff observed the PSG man on a scouting expedition to Europe prior to naming their latest squad this month.
He was hoping to impress the watching Tite in PSG’s UEFA Champions League first-leg with Barcelona in February, but was restricted to a brief cameo after being left out of the starting line-up.
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The 24-year-old’s Ligue 1 form has impressed, however, and he will now be hoping that proves enough.
Dudu, meanwhile, impressed first-hand in January’s Chapecoense fundraiser as a domestic-based Brazil squad beat Colombia 1-0, with the Palmeiras man one of the standout performers on the night.
Arguably the finest player in Brazil right now, he has enjoyed a wonderful year as he led Palmeiras to the league title last season and local commentators believe he deserves a chance to show what he can do with the senior squad.
Dudu would provide Tite an interesting option. Able to operate across the attacking midfield line, he could feasibly also play a false no.9 role.
Taison replaced Douglas Costa in September when the Bayern player was injured during a training session and was forced to miss qualifiers versus Venezuela and Bolivia.
The 29-year-old is also a familiar face to Tite, having won titles together at Internacional almost a decade ago.
Shanghai SIPG-based Hulk will be desperate for his first call-up under the new boss but the long trip from China will likely rule him out. Tite has insisted that all players based in Asia arrive a few days early for international duty, so time is not on Hulk’s side.
Also in contention are Atletico-MG’s Robinho and Gremio’s Luan, both of whom also appeared against Colombia in January.
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