Is Lucas Ribeiro Costa replaceable if he is to leave Mamelodi Sundowns? Ex-Masandwana star surprisingly picks Orlando Pirates starlet to fill in the Brazilian's shoes

Lucas Ribeiro Costa has been arguably the top-performing Premier Soccer League player this season.

That has seen him being linked with a move away from the Brazilians while a section of South African football fans are also calling for the Brazilian attacker to be naturalised and play for Bafana Bafana.

Former Sundowns winger Manqoba Ngwenya believes it would be difficult to replace Ribeiro in the event he leaves Masandawana but believes a Pirates starlet could be the perfect candidate to fill in the 26-year-old's shoes.

"Well in South African football at the moment I'm not sure if there's somebody who can fill the shoes of Ribeiro right now," Ngwenya said as per Soccer Laduma.

"He's definitely the hottest property at the moment you know. One I can think of he did damage to us [last) weekend, is [Relebohile] Mofokeng [of Orlando Pirates], he can fill those shoes.

"But obviously I doubt he's for sale. So Sundowns would at least have the budget to say they can go in the market and actually look for a quality player like him," added the former Bafana wideman.

"Attract interest from Europe to the PSL, because they could also see that a player from South Africa can go to the big leagues, via Sundowns and actually make it in the big leagues." 

If Ribeiro is to leave Sundowns, he has set the bar high for the man who would replace him.

The Brazilian attacker has scored 16 goals while making 11 assists in 35 games across all competitions.

However, as per Ngwenya's suggestion, signing Mofokeng could be difficult as the 20-year-old is tipped to move to Europe during the next transfer window.

Ribeiro still has a chance to further improve on his already terrific performances as Sundowns chase glory in the PSL, Caf Champions League and Nedbank Cup.

If he continues on that patch, it might end up being difficult for the Tshwane giants to hold on to him for next season amid massive interest in the player from European clubs.