The South Africans of Mamelodi Sundowns have just acquired a Brazilian talent to upgrade their workforce. Lucas Ribeiro Costa, a midfielder who played in Brazil and Belgium, has just joined the club for the 2023-2024 season for a reported €600,000 by Transfermarkt.
At just 24 years of age, Ribeiro Costa is a versatile attacking player who can also perform as a striker. His impressive performances last season in the Challenger Pro League (Belgium’s second tier), where he scored 11 goals and provided 8 assists for SK Beveren, caught the Sundowns’ eye. He joins South African Lesiba Nku and Argentinian Junior Mendieta to strengthen the team’s attacking arsenal.
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More Brazilians and other foreign players at the Sundowns
The Pretoria-based club, whose yellow and green colors recall the Brazilian flag, have recently shown particular interest in South American players. From 2020 to date, no less than four South Americans have joined the Sundowns, without counting the two new signings this year. This situation is unusual in African football.
Among these players is the Brazilian Ricardo Nascimento, who played in the first and second divisions of the Brazilian and Portuguese championships before settling in South Africa. We also find two Uruguayans, Sirino and Affonso, who played for important clubs in their country before joining the Sundowns. And last but not least, we have the Chilean Marcelo Allende, who joined last season for over 1.6 million euros.
Ribeiro Costa’s path to South Africa
Before joining the Sundowns, Lucas Ribeiro Costa spent four seasons in Belgium, mostly in the Challenger Pro League. He also had the opportunity to play eight games in the Jupiler Pro League (Belgium’s top flight) with Sporting Charleroi during the 2020-2021 season. Previously, Ribeiro Costa also played for Valenciennes FC in the French Ligue 2. But his career started with Pinheiros-SC in Brazil.
