Coutinho 'a worthy successor' to Robben's No.10 shirt at Bayern

The Brazilian will wear the No.10 jersey vacated by Arjen Robben at Allianz Arena after the Dutchman gave the club his blessing

Bayern Munich asked retired Arjen Robben for permission before giving new signing Philippe Coutinho his old No.10 shirt and club CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge believes the Brazilian is a worthy successor.

When asked about where Coutinho will play, Rummenigge told a news conference: "Hasan [Salihamidzic, sporting director] and Niko [Kovac, coach] have already agreed on all the tactical variants, and Hasan had a talk with Arjen Robben this morning.

"We did not want to give his number away for the time being, as a special gesture, but we also wanted to show how important and valuable this is.

"It was also a very important sign for Philippe that the club is also fully behind him, so Arjen has no problem at all, he wishes him all the best, and he is a more than worthy successor."

Coutinho could make his Bayern debut on Saturday when they travel to Gelsenkirchen to face Schalke in the Bundesliga, with Robert Lewandowski among those to welcome the 27-year-old's timely switch to Germany.

Niko Kovac's side opened their 2019-20 campaign in disappointing fashion on Friday, drawing 2-2 with Hertha Berlin at the Allianz Arena.