With Girona playing Real Madrid this weekend, ESPN Brasil features a story about Yan Couto, who’s loaned by Manchester City to the Catalan side.
The story ends up getting quite interesting because as they interview the player’s agent, it’s revealed that many clubs actually got interested in signing the fullback this summer.
Representative Marcelo Robalinho claims that Yan Couto could have even stayed at Manchester City for this season, but since there was no guarantee he’d be regularly used, they ended up choosing to go out on a new loan.
“He had two options: stay at City with chances to play a few minutes or have the chance to play at Girona, which is in LaLiga, and have more chances. Together with City’s management and coaching staff, we opted for Girona to continue the development,” Marcelo Robalinho told ESPN Brasil.
Robalinho then details the battle there was to sign Couto this summer, saying the City Group ended up having a heavy weight on his decision of joining Girona.
“Several big clubs in France, Germany and Portugal made inquiries and wanted to sign him. But City didn’t want him to leave the Group. Guardiola spoke to him in pre-season and is monitoring Yan’s development.”
Yan Couto joined Manchester City on a €6m move from Coritiba in the summer of 2020. Back then, he was immediately loaned to Girona, where he spent his first season in Europe.
In 2021, he had a loan spell at Braga, and when returning to England this summer, he was once again sent to the Spanish club.
His contract with Manchester City runs until 2025.
