Yan Couto

Yan Couto has been with Borussia Dortmund since 2024. “I am a right full-back who tries to interpret the game in a modern way, that is to say, to do the defensive work in the back without making errors and to introduce creative elements up front. My speed and technique help me do that. I will do everything possible to enjoy great hours in the Bundesliga and the Champions League with the BORUSSIA fans," the Brazilian told BORUSSIA members’ magazine a few weeks after his arrival in Germany.

In his first season in Black & Yellow, he played in 35 out of a 55 possible games across all competitions albeit with many coming off the bench. He was very strong in the tackle. “My job is to help the team, and I will do everything I can to do that. No matter how the coach lines up the team tactically.”

Couto knows former Borussians Felipe Santana, Tinga and Reinier, with whom he played in the U17 national team. “Evanilson and Marcio Amoroso too. And of course Dedé and Felipe Santana – I recently had a Churrasco, a Brazilian barbecue party, with the two of them. I know the special history here and I will do everything I can to write a new, successful chapter.”

At the age of just three, Yan Couto began playing football, wearing his dad’s oversized football boots. Photos still testify to the fact that little Yan always wanted to play with the ball in his big boots. Shortly afterwards (“I think I was four years old”), Couto joined a team of seven-year-olds and soon played his first tournaments. However, he did not want to commit himself completely to outdoor football: Couto played indoors for four years, until the age of 13.

His home club is Coritiba FC, where he started as a nine-year-old. “I made the leap into the national youth team. These are things that I will always remember, which are very important to me. And I am very grateful to my home club, who shaped me as a person and as a player.” As a Coritiba player, he was called up to the Brazilian U17 national team which won the World Cup in 2019. In the final, Couto provided the assist for the winning goal. The English Guardian included him in their Next Generation list in 2019 as one of the 60 best young talents in the world. In 2020, he made his debut in the Coritiba first team.

Couto was now known in the football world and had drawn plenty of attention to himself. A number of clubs courted him, and at the age of 18 the defender left his home club to join Manchester City. But just a short time later, City sent him to their partner club FC Girona for the 2020/21 season in order to gain vital match practice in the Spanish second tier. Two more loans followed, first at Sporting Braga (2021/22) and then back to Girona (2022-2024), who had won promotion to Spain's first division in the meantime. On the Iberian Peninsula, he became one of the league's strongest full-backs and helped Girona finish the 2023/24 season as La Liga’s surprise package in third place. Couto was heavily involved, providing ten assists and one goal in 34 games.

Yan Couto made his debut for the Brazilian national team on 13 October 2023 in a 1-1 draw with Venezuela, coming on for the injured Danilo shortly before the half-time break. “I can hardly put this feeling into words even today. I'm in the Seleçao! Playing with players like Neymar or Vinicius Junior! What a great day for me and my family!” Previously, he had only been called up to the U17 team of his home country, helping them win the U17 World Cup in 2019.