Douglas Costa says he rejected the chance to join Chelsea in favor of a move to Bayern Munich as he was eager to work with Pep Guardiola.

The Brazil international was heavily linked with a switch to Stamford Bridge earlier this year and publicly voiced his admiration for Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho.

However, the former Shakhtar Donetsk star did not need long to make up his mind when the Bundesliga champions joined the race for his signature.

"Chelsea also wanted to sign me. They were seriously interested and made great efforts," Douglas Costa told Bild. "But I really only wanted to work with Guardiola and join Bayern.

"I made a conscious decision to join Bayern because of the presence of Guardiola. I was convinced that I would learn more at Bayern under Guardiola."

The 25-year-old has developed into a key figure at the Allianz Arena, making 12 Bundesliga appearances for the Bavarians so far, scoring twice and setting up seven more.