Uli Hoeness slams Douglas Costa over Juventus move

Bayern Munich president UliHoeness has launched an attack at Douglas Costa following his switch to Juventus earlier this summer.


The Brazil international joined the Old Lady on an initial €6m loan deal with an obligation to buy for €40m in a year's time.

Costa did not have a good understanding with manager Carlo Ancelotti last term and this was quite evident with the Italian opting to bench the attacker during different stages of the previous season. With limited opportunities in the lineup, the forward decided to pursue a fresh challenge in the Serie A, but his exit has not been taken well by Bayern's no.1

He said: “Douglas Costa was a mercenary, I did not like his behaviour. Clubs like Manchester City or PSG have spent lot of money but they haven’t won anything important yet and that means wins are not a direct consequence of investments made on the market.”

Meanwhile, Hoeness was also quizzed on Bayern Munich's controversial defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final last season, for which he insisted that the better team lost, he said: “I don’t think there was too much difference between them and us. I don’t think the best team qualified but it always depends on details. I will never spend thousands of million euro for football players.”

Juventus have won the Serie A in each of the last six seasons, and they are favourites to achieve a seventh successive title in spite of AC Milan's big spending in the transfer window. The Old Lady have brought in nine players for over £100m this summer, and this could be extended in the coming days with Chelsea's Gary Cahill and Arsenal's Shkodran Mustafi linked with potential moves to Turin. The reigning champions could also see a possible exit during this period with club favourite Claudio Marchisio eager to pursue regular first-team football elsewhere.