"It's painful for him": A BVB professional is having a disastrous 2026

Manager Niko Kovac said afterwards that the foul, punished only with a yellow card, was "almost an assault". Five days later, though, Couto was fit again and played the full 90 minutes on the opening day of the Bundesliga season. Thirty-three matchdays later, it was once again the 90+5th minute when the full-back took centre stage. In Bremen, he played a key role in sealing the 2-0 win.

That strike took his season's tally to six goal contributions (three goals, three assists), a 500 per cent improvement on his underwhelming previous campaign. After two seasons, he has delivered too little for his €25 million transfer fee and is in danger of being labelled a flop.

Early in the campaign he strung together several starts and visibly sharpened his game, trimming the technical errors, improving positional sense, and winning more one-on-one duels as his physical engagement rose. He drifted inside more often and delivered better crosses, contributing to five of his six goal involvements in the first half of the campaign.

That, however, is precisely Couto's predicament: goal contributions. The defender was unfortunate that his teammate and rival Julian Ryerson enjoyed a career-best campaign in this regard. The Norwegian provided a total of 18 assists, and the "Ryerson cross, Serhou Guirassy goal" combination became BVB's signature move.

That is why Kovac commented on Couto a few weeks ago: "I'm very pleased with his development. Yan has had a lot more playing time this season than last year. Julian is performing really well, doing a great job in attack. He's provided the most assists. So it's painful for Yan, but all the more pleasing for me that I have two good lads on the right flank."

Yet Kovac has a habit of praising players while still benching them for long spells. Last winter he told Salih Özcan he would see far more action, yet the minutes never materialised. The pattern repeats with Couto: in 37.5% of the 72 competitive matches Kovac has overseen at BVB, the youngster has watched the full 90 from the bench—27 times in total, nine of them in 2026 alone.

It has been a disastrous season for the four-time international. Couto has started only four times, most recently at the end of February in the 2-3 loss to FC Bayern. Since then, Kovac has granted him a mere 41 minutes of playing time.

This lack of game time is clearly not in Couto's interests, and with Ryerson expected to occupy the right-back spot next season, a departure—whatever its form—would hardly come as a surprise. Five weeks ago, Ruhr Nachrichten reported that his "future is uncertain".

Questions remain over how comfortable Couto feels in Germany. During last summer's Club World Cup, the defender told Brazilian pay-TV channel SporTV: "I didn't expect the move to Germany to be so different—both personally and in terms of dealing with the cold and the people, who tend to keep to themselves. It's not easy; it makes a big difference. That's why many Brazilians no longer go to Germany. It's a challenge for me; I have to deal with it."

That adjustment is easier when a player feels needed and can regularly do what he enjoys most, yet Couto has rarely been granted that opportunity in Dortmund so far.

When the squad posed for a team photo in front of the South Stand after the final home win over Frankfurt—and the farewells to Julian Brandt, Niklas Süle and Özcan—Couto was the only player who did not look at ease.