Girona’s Yan Couto, left, duels for the ball with Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Girona at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. Borussia Dortmund has signed Brazilian defender Yan Couto on loan from Manchester City with an option to make the move permanent. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)
Yoopya with Associated Press
DORTMUND, Germany (AP) — Borussia Dortmund has signed Brazilian defender Yan Couto on loan from Manchester City with an option to make the move permanent.
Girona’s Yan Couto, left, duels for the ball with Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Girona at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. Borussia Dortmund has signed Brazilian defender Yan Couto on loan from Manchester City with an option to make the move permanent. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)
Girona’s Yan Couto, left, duels for the ball with Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Girona at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. Borussia Dortmund has signed Brazilian defender Yan Couto on loan from Manchester City with an option to make the move permanent. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)
Girona’s Yan Couto, left, duels for the ball with Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Girona at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. Borussia Dortmund has signed Brazilian defender Yan Couto on loan from Manchester City with an option to make the move permanent. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)
The Bundesliga club said Saturday that the 22-year-old Couto agreed a loan through June 2025 and will stay at Dortmund “in the event that certain sporting criteria are fulfilled in the coming season.”
Couto joined City in 2020 from Brazilian club Coritiba and spent loan spells at Sporting Braga and Girona. Last season, he helped Girona to a surprising third place in the Spanish league. He played 59 league games over two seasons for the Spanish side.
“Yan Couto was on our radar even before he won the Under-17 World Cup with Brazil in 2019. He has the potential to be a very special player, with outstanding pace, technique and creativity,” Dortmund’s managing director for sport Lars Ricken said. “He’s very young with a lot still to learn, but we’re confident that he can follow in the footsteps of special Brazilian players like Júlio César, Dedé and Márcio Amoroso at Dortmund.”