Report: Long-term agreement for Douglas Costa at Bayern Munich unlikely

So far this season, Douglas Costa has featured 14 times across all competitions for Bayern Munich, scoring one goal and providing three assists. The Brazilian winger returned to Bayern on a season long loan deal from Juventus, but perhaps has quite played as much as he would’ve anticipated, even competing for minutes with Serge Gnabry, Kingsley Coman, and Leroy Sane.

Per a new report from Az, Costa’s agent, Giovanni Branchini doubts that there will be any sort of longer-term agreement at the end of the winger’s loan spell at Bayern. Of course, the club does have the option to extend his stay at Bayern from Juventus, but Branchinni doesn’t see that option in the cards at this juncture.

“Unfortunately, Douglas doesn’t get a lot of playing time in Munich. That’s why I don’t believe that FC Bayern will sign him,” Branchinni said on Italian radio station “TMW.”

Costa has predominantly been used as a substitute by Hansi Flick and the Brazilian has only started a total of five matches. Two of those matches were the closing group stage matches in the Champions League when Bayern had already clinched their advancement to the knockout stages and one of them was the 3-0 first round DFB-Pokal win over FC Düren in a team that was most comprised of youngsters and fringe players. It’s clear where Costa stands in the attacking pecking order at Bayern. It’s difficult to get minutes ahead of Gnabry, Coman, Sane, and even Jamal Musiala who’s been used as both a central midfielder and a winger this season.

Despite Costa’s lack of minutes, Branchinni doesn’t want to completely close the door to a potential opportunity for a longer stay at Bayern.

“The season is still long and everyone knows that in sport sometimes only a week is enough to turn the trend,” he said. Injuries to the squad, coronavirus cases, and rotations are all components that could help Costa see some more minutes in the lineup, but there are still no guarantees.

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