Yan Couto on life in Cincinnati, the hardest part of being traded from Manchester City as they prepare for new era
The defender opened up on the off-field difficulties of being traded and the experienced he’s had so far
DeAndre Yedlin has experienced plenty in his career. At 31, he’s now the veteran, which is wild for those who remember him going toe-to-toe with Belgium’s Eden Hazard at the 2014 World Cup behind his pace and the irrational confidence of a 21-year-old.
This past winter, though, Yedlin experienced something new, something that no athlete is ever really prepared for: getting traded.
It’s a phenomenon unique to sports. Teachers, construction workers and paralegals aren’t suddenly shipped out of town for allocation money. Things change rapidly in sports and, for those part of those sudden changes, the only hope is that things work out okay.
They have for Yedlin, who says he’s unexpectedly found a new home in Cincinnati. After leaving behind Lionel Messi and Inter Miami, Yedlin has adjusted well to life in his new city, one that he plans to call home for a long time. Even so, there’s still some heartbreak there. There are still times he thinks about what was left behind.
For the Wednesday Convo, a weekly Q&A with central figures in the U.S. soccer scene, GOAL US caught up with Yedlin to talk about this winter’s big trade, the lessons he’s learned along the way and how he feels about those that compare eras of the U.S. men’s national team.
“I went in with no expectations. I did. I honestly had no clue what to expect. I’d only been here for national team games, where we stayed downtown. You don’t get to get that taste of what a city is like. You don’t get the feel, but, in coming here, it really has become like a second home. Obviously, I call Seattle my first home, but it really has become like a second home.
There’s so much for kids to do and one thing that it made me realize is that it really doesn’t matter where you are. I think as long as you’re with the people you love, and they’re happy and you’re happy, then the place is going to feel incredible.
” I think, if it was the younger me, then my mind would have gone to, ‘Oh, what is everybody going to think about this move? What is the public going to think? How are they going to view me now? Am I not I’m not worthy of being here?’. That whole thing, but for me, it was just, man, it’s unfortunate that I have to say goodbye to this guy and his wife.”
