Manchester City owned Yan Couto is on the front page of Sunday’s edition of Marca, which can only mean one thing… Real Madrid have an interest in the player.
Couto, who is 21-years-of-age, signed for Manchester City in 2020, having impressed enough at Coritiba in Brazil to catch the attention of the club’s scouts and those Barcelona.
Marca believe Pep Guardiola’s side paid around €6m for the player. Barcelona had been interested in him but weren’t able to overcome the competition of the City Group.
Yan Couto was first sent on loan to Girona before then going to SC Braga to pick up some more experience. Last July he returned to Girona and has been having a good season with La Liga’s surprise package, likely making Barcelona’s regret grow further.
Playing mainly on the wide right, but able to play right-back instead if required, the Brazilian has made 23 appearances for Girona so far this season, scoring 3 goals and adding 6 assists.
Back to Marca’s claims, there’s nothing especially concrete regarding an offer or even contact with the player’s entourage at this stage. Yan Couto is one of a number of players being considered by Los Blancos ahead of the next summer window.
The Spanish newspaper say the Manchester City owned player ‘fits the profile of a position to be reinforced’, and ‘his level is spectacular’.
Regarding Real Madrid’s thoughts on Yan Couto generally, it’s stated: ‘The reports that are in the club in relation to the Brazilian are positive, but at the moment it has not gone beyond the phase of gathering information. Yan Couto stands out offensively, but he does not forget his main mission as a winger, which is to defend.’
Manchester City have the player secured on a contract which lasts until June 2025, and there’s been suggestions they could bring him back in the summer for a crack at the first team.
Decision time, then, isn’t far away.
