Douglas Costa is being tipped to live up to the hype as Sydney FC prepare to unleash their star recruit for his A-League Men debut.
Capped 31 times by Brazil, Costa is set to go head-to-head with Western Sydney's Juan Mata in Saturday's season-opening derby at CommBank Stadium.
The star duo's arrival in Sydney has increased intrigue and given hope that the rivalry between the two clubs can recapture lapsed ALM fans.
Mata has yet to play in a competitive match, but Sydney fans have had brief glimpses of Costa in their Asian Champions League 2 campaign.
The winger looks to still have the qualities that previously led to him being on the books of Bayern Munich and Juventus, and he has more tricks in his bag, according to Sydney midfielder Corey Hollman.
"We've been watching Douglas these last three months when nobody else has … he's quite the player," Hollman said.
"The fans will definitely be happy with him.
"He's an extremely down-to-earth person and he's treated as anyone else is, but there's definitely more of a buzz around training.
"Seeing some of the stuff he pulls off on the training ground, he's an unbelievable player."
Costa's arrival at Sydney is supplemented by several other handy off-season acquisitions.
Polish striker Patryk Klimala looks a find, and midfield duo Anas Ouahim and Brazilian Leo Sena seem to have struck up an automatic understanding.
That may limit Hollman's chances to impress Ufuk Talay after a breakout season last campaign.
"I think I laid a good foundation for myself last season and I'll definitely be looking to build on that," Hollman said.
"We've got a lot of quality players now that help us as a team to play really well and kind of bring the best out of everybody.
"Any chance I'll be getting, I'll be making the most of it."
