Brazilian star Couto arrives under radar
TEEN DESCRIBED AS BRAZIL’S ‘NEW HOPE AT RIGHT-BACK’
CITY confirmed the capture of Brazilian teenage defender Yan Couto with an 84-word statement on the morning of the Carabao Cup final.
The news was published on their website, but not promoted prominently or pushed anywhere, and subsequently lost in the tide of matchday action as Pep Guardiola’s side wrapped up their eighth domestic crown in the last two years.
If the announcement of a player arriving on a five-year contract for a deal that could be worth more than £10m was downplayed, the efforts that had gone into making the signing happen were anything but.
City’s scouting system in South America has been established for some time and Couto, not 18 until June, is a player that has been tracked for more than two years at Coritiba and in the Brazil youth system.
His call-up to the squad for the Under-17 World Cup in November seemed like an ideal time to check the right-back’s progress.
Couto ended the tournament with a winners’ medal having created more chances than any other defender, but City were convinced enough after Brazil’s first game to go ahead with the signing.
They faced fierce competition from Barcelona, though, who were quicker with negotiations and managed to strike a deal with Coritiba first. This was where City’s charm offensive stepped up.
Three weeks after winning the Under-17 World Cup in Brazil, Couto was at the Etihad for the first derby of the season as part of a trip where he was walked and talked through what his prospects could be if he chose the Blues over Barcelona.
Guardiola spoke to the player personally - something he does not always do with first-team signings - both in December and a month later when Couto returned for a medical, convinced that the pathway at City was the best route for him.
Whether that pays off remains to be seen and there are a lot of possibilities for a player still so young.
The teenager has already been described as Brazil’s new hope at right-back with comparisons made to Guardiola favourite Dani Alves, who came close to reuniting with the manager in 2017 before making a lastminute switch to Paris SaintGermain instead.
Equally, though, the player is not being treated as a first-team player in the same way that Gabriel Jesus was when he signed from Palmeiras three years ago, someone that can be trusted to come into the senior team immediately and make an impact - hence the lack of fanfare confirming his arrival.
Couto is expected to get a taste of first-team action on the pre-season tour this summer, where the coaches can have a look at his potential and see how he could fit into the squad.
Fernandinho will be there for at least another year to help the new signing adjust while Ederson, Bernardo Silva, and Joao Cancelo will all help bridge the language barrier.
After then, a decision will be made for next season and beyond.
There is the outside chance he could stay in Manchester, but a more likely option is that he goes out on loan to continue his development elsewhere in the same way that signings Aleks Zinchenko, Douglas Luiz, Claudio Gomes, Daniel Arzani, Ante Palaversa, Ryotaro Meshino and Pedro Porro have done in recent years.
City and Couto saw enough in each other to be convinced the deal had to be done, but how successful the player’s Etihad career turns out to be will come down to the decisions that are made from here.