Douglas Costa brings spark to the Bayern Munich left flank once occupied by Franck Ribery

The 25-year-old Brazilian, bought from Shakhtar Donetsk in the summer, has shown already he has much of what even the vintage Ribery brought to Bayern through his eight successful years there, writes Ian Hawkey.

Bayern Munich's Brazilian midfielder Douglas Costa plays the ball during a Bundesliga match against Cologne last month. Christof Stache / AFP / October 24, 2015

It had been a long wait. Franck Ribery has been treading rather gingerly since the end of March, when a serious ankle injury put an end to his season, prematurely.

No wonder he looked cheerful, as he trained properly for the first time last week at Bayern Munich’s headquarters.

There have been times in the past seven months when the German champions have missed their sparky, skilled winger – and the last Uefa Champions League semi-final, a heavy defeat to Barcelona was one – but there have not been too many occasions in 2015/16 of great longing for the absent Frenchman.

Ribery, at 32, may never again have the surge of acceleration that, allied to his dribbling, made him irresistible. He may well struggle to command a regular first-team place at his club again, too.

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Pep Guardiola, the Bayern coach, certainly has no need to rush him back into the team. Principally, that is because Ribery’s position on the left flank is being superbly staffed.

Douglas Costa, the 25-year-old Brazilian bought for around €30 million (Dh120.7m) from Shakhtar Donetsk in the summer, has shown already he has much of what even the vintage Ribery brought to Bayern through his eight successful years there.

The figures speak for themselves. In 10 Bundesliga matches, Costa has provided 11 assists. Bayern may be waltzing through most of their domestic assignments, with only Arsenal, who they meet on Wednesday night, the only team to have beaten them over 90 minutes all season, but that is still an impressive settling-in, given that Costa is new to the Bundesliga, and was making a step up in class by moving to Germany from Ukraine.

He can be a dazzling entertainer, with adhesive control, a delight in taking on defenders and a range of clever, original manoeuvres. When he premiered one of those, using his heel to scoop the ball over the head of an opponent from Bayer Leverkusen and collect it, having rounded the defender, he was deemed to have taken novelty to the point of arrogance.

“There are certain tricks that are great to watch,” said Arjen Robben, his Bayern colleague, “but they really belong in the circus.”

Robben, like Ribery, will be aware that the hierarchy of wing wizards at Bayern has been sharply, suddenly challenged by Costa’s arrival, and indeed, by the signing, on a long-term loan from Juventus with an option to buy, of Kingsley Coman.

They have been so effective a tandem at times, especially while Robben had joined Ribery in needing treatment for injury, that they have gained a series of nicknames. Combine their initials, and they are “KC/DC”. Put together the first two letters of their surnames and they are “CoCo”. Ribery, on the left, and Robben, on the right, used to be honoured like that, in sobriquets: They were “Robbery”, or “RibRob”.

Most colleagues appreciate Costa not just for his magic, but his generosity. He does not have a goalscoring record to compare with Robben’s or Ribery’s but he is an unselfish player when he has worked his way into menacing positions, head up, looking for the most telling pass.

Robert Lewandowksi, the centre-forward enjoying a spectacularly prolific start to the campaign, has specifically credited Costa’s crosses for his rich vein of goalscoring form.

Guardiola has set Costa a high target to aspire to. “He can become one of the best five players in the world,” he said.

Last week, the Bayern coach gave an indication of how the Brazil international might broaden his game to grow to that status. In the German Cup win over Wolfsburg, Costa took up a role not at outside left, but just behind the central striker, as playmaker or No 10.

Once upon a time, while coaching Barcelona, Guardiola made a similar decision to redefine the role of a talented young winger. That man’s name? Lionel Messi.

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