Rwan Philipe Rodrigues de Souza Cruz (born 20 May 2001), known as Rwan Seco, Rwan Cruz or just Rwan, is a Brazilian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for

Botafogo Botafogo (local/standard alternative Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: ) is a beachfront neighborhood (''bairro'') in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a mostly upper middle class and small commerce community, and is located between the hills of M ...

Career

Early career

Born in Cajueiro Seco, a small neighborhood in

Jaboatão dos Guararapes Jaboatão dos Guararapes () is a city in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil. It is a part of the Recife metro area. The population was 706,867 according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) in 2020, making it the second mo ...

Pernambuco Pernambuco ( , , ) is a States of Brazil, state of Brazil located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.5 million people as of 2024, it is the List of Brazilian states by population, ...

, Rwan began his career at a local footballing school named Garoto do Futuro before joining Náutico's youth categories. One year later, he joined

Sport Recife Sport Club do Recife (), commonly known as Sport Recife or simply Sport, is a Brazilian sports club, located in Recife, Pernambuco. Founded in 1905, the club currently competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the top tier of football i ...

as they offered a small funding assistance. Rwan left Sport in the end of 2018 and subsequently signed for

Figueirense Figueirense Futebol Clube, commonly referred to as Figueirense, is a Brazilian professional club based in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina founded on 12 June 1921. It competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série C, the third tier of Brazilian fo ...

, but spent nine months without playing at his new side due to a registration problem. He subsequently moved to Flamengo-SP, but returned to his hometown in March 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, and helped his father as a

bricklayer A bricklayer, which is related to but different from a mason, is a craftsperson and tradesperson who lays bricks to construct brickwork. The terms also refer to personnel who use blocks to construct blockwork walls and other forms of maso ...

Santos

In June 2020, Rwan agreed to join Santos on loan from Flamengo, being initially assigned to the under-20s. However, due to the club's transfer ban, he was registered only in the following May. Rwan spent the 2021 season playing for Santos' under-20 and under-23 sides, and signed a permanent three-year deal on 16 December of that year. He made his professional debut on 20 February 2022, coming on as a second-half substitute for

Lucas Braga Lucas Braga Ribeiro (born 10 November 1996), known as Lucas Braga () or simply Braga, is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Vitória. Mainly a winger, he can also play as a wing back. Career Early career Born in São Paulo, Braga joined J. ...

in a 3–0

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the São Paulo State Football Federation (FPF), ...

home loss against

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

. Rwan scored his first senior goal on 23 February 2022, netting his team's third in a 3–0 away win over

Salgueiro Salgueiro is a city in Pernambuco, Brazil. It is located in the mesoregion of ''Sertão Pernambucano''. Salgueiro covers an area of 1687 square kilometers and had in 2020 an estimated population of 61,249 inhabitants. It is the see city of the ...

, for the year's

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil () is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and it is the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de Portugal, ...

Loan to Vasco da Gama

On 31 March 2023, Rwan was loaned to fellow top tier side

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea. Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

until the end of the year, with a buyout clause.

Ludogorets Razgrad

On 22 July 2023, Rwan was announced at Bulgarian side

Ludogorets Razgrad Professional Football Club Ludogorets 1945 (), commonly known as Ludogorets Razgrad or simply Ludogorets, is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Razgrad, which currently competes in the First Professional Football League ...

on loan for one year, with a buyout option. In January 2024, he signed a permanent contract with the club, with Nonato moving in the opposite direction.

Botafogo

On 7 February 2025,

announced the signing of Rwan on a four-year contract.

Career statistics

References

External links

Santos FC profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz, Rwan 2001 births Living people People from Jaboatão dos Guararapes Footballers from Pernambuco Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Santos FC players CR Vasco da Gama players PFC Ludogorets Razgrad players Botafogo FR players 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria Expatriate men's footballers in Bulgaria