Douglas Costa can match Robben and Ribery, says Lucescu

Mircea Lucescu believes Douglas Costa has the potential to reach the level of Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery and is the future of Bayern Munich.

Costa joined Bayern from Shakhtar Donetsk in 2015 and quickly became an important first-team player at the Allianz Arena.

The Brazilian has struggled to build on that form this campaign and has been linked with an exit, but Lucescu is confident his former pupil will succeed at Bayern.

“Douglas possesses a fantastic shot and is very dangerous from free-kicks. He has a lot of pace and knows how to create space with an individual action. He has all the qualities you need. He is the future of Bayern,” the ex-Shakhtar boss told Bild.

“I think he has what it takes to succeed Robben and Ribery. I have no doubt whatsoever that he can reach their level.

“He will bring Bayern a lot of joy in the future. He is the type of player who can make the difference.”

Costa suggested earlier this season he is not entirely happy with his situation at Bayern, but Lucescu does not believe he will leave the Bundesliga champions in the near future.

“Maybe he was not 100 per cent happy at the time because things were not going his way,” the Zenit boss said.

“Or one of his Brazilian agents orchestrated those comments.”