Leonardo Bittencourt

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Loureiroand the second or paternal family name is Bittencourt.

Leonardo Bittencourt

Bittencourt with Werder Bremen in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Leonardo Jesus Loureiro Bittencourt
Date of birth	(1993-12-19) 19 December 1993 (age 31)
Place of birth	Leipzig, Germany
Height	1.71 m (5 ft 7 in) [1]
Position	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Werder Bremen
Number	10
Youth career
2005–2010	Energie Cottbus
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2010–2012	Energie Cottbus II	4	(2)
2010–2012	Energie Cottbus	29	(2)
2012–2013	Borussia Dortmund II	12	(1)
2012–2013	Borussia Dortmund	5	(1)
2013–2015	Hannover 96	57	(5)
2015–2018	1. FC Köln	67	(11)
2018–2020	1899 Hoffenheim	22	(1)
2019–2020	→ Werder Bremen (loan)	28	(4)
2020–	Werder Bremen	136	(12)
International career
2011	Germany U19	2	(0)
2012–2015	Germany U21	20	(3)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 18 October 2025 (UTC)

Leonardo Jesus Loureiro Bittencourt (born 19 December 1993) is a German professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Bundesliga club Werder Bremen.

Personal life

Bittencourt was born in Leipzig, Germany. He is the son of Franklin Bittencourt, a Brazilian former professional player who played in Germany, and is now active as a coach. ^[2]

Club career

Bittencourt began his career with Energie Cottbus. ^{[3] [1]} On 1 December 2011, it was announced that Bittencourt had signed a four-year contract with Borussia Dortmund, effective from 1 July 2012. ^[2] He moved to Hannover 96 at the end of the 2012–13 season. ^[4]

On 13 July 2015, Bittencourt joined 1. FC Köln on a four-year deal keeping him at the club until 2019. ^[5]

On 28 April 2018, he played as Köln lost 3–2 to SC Freiburg which confirmed Köln's relegation from the Bundesliga. ^[6] After the team's relegation, Bittencourt was transferred to TSG 1899 Hoffenheim for a fee of €6 million. ^{[7] [8]}

On 2 September 2019, Werder Bremen announced the signing of Bittencourt on a season-long loan deal. ^[9] It was reported the transfer included an obligation for Werder Bremen to sign him permanently for an estimated transfer fee of €7 million. ^[10] The obligation took effect in July 2020. ^[11]

International career

Bittencourt has represented Germany's youth teams, under 19 and under 21. He was first called up to under 21 in 2012, for the friendly against Turkey on 14 November 2012. ^[12]

Career statistics

As of match played 18 October 2025 ^{[13] [14]}

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			DFB-Pokal		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Energie Cottbus II	2010–11	Regionalliga Nord	4	2	–		–		–		4	2
Energie Cottbus	2010–11	2. Bundesliga	3	0	0	0	–		–		3	0
	2011–12		26	2	1	0	–		–		27	2
	Total		29	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	30	2
Borussia Dortmund II	2012–13	3. Liga	12	1	0	0	–		–		12	1
Borussia Dortmund	2012–13	Bundesliga	5	1	1	0	1 [a]	0	–		7	1
Hannover 96	2013–14	2. Bundesliga	31	4	2	0	–		–		33	4
	2014–15		26	1	2	0	–		–		28	1
	Total		57	5	4	0	0	0	0	0	61	5
1. FC Köln	2015–16	Bundesliga	29	3	1	0	–		–		30	3
	2016–17		16	3	2	0	–		–		18	3
	2017–18		22	5	2	1	4 [b]	0	–		28	6
	Total		67	11	5	1	4	0	0	0	76	12
1899 Hoffenheim	2018–19	Bundesliga	21	1	2	0	3 [a]	0	–		26	1
	2019–20		1	0	0	0	–		–		1	0
	Total		22	1	2	0	3	0	0	0	27	1
Werder Bremen (loan)	2019–20	Bundesliga	28	4	3	2	–		1 [c]	0	32	6
Werder Bremen	2020–21	Bundesliga	27	4	2	1	–		–		29	5
	2021–22	2. Bundesliga	22	2	0	0	–		0	0	22	2
	2022–23	Bundesliga	25	3	2	1	–		–		27	4
	2023–24	Bundesliga	29	1	1	0	–		–		30	1
	2024–25	Bundesliga	27	2	4	0	—		—		31	2
	2025–26	Bundesliga	6	0	1	0	—		—		7	0
	Total		136	12	10	2	0	0	0	0	146	14
Career total			360	39	26	5	8	0	1	0	395	44

1. Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
2. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
3. Appearance in Bundesliga relegation play-offs

References

1. Leonardo Bittencourt at Soccerway
2. Fligge, Sascha (1 December 2011). "Bittencourt wechselt zum BVB" (in German). RuhrNachrichten.de. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
3. Leonardo Bittencourt at fussballdaten.de (in German)
4. "Hannover 96 verpflichtet Bittencourt" (in German). Hannover 96. 18 June 2013. Archived from the original on 21 June 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
5. "LEONARDO BITTENCOURT SIGNS FOR 1. FC KÖLN". 1. FC Köln. 14 July 2015. Archived from the original on 14 July 2015.
6. "Cologne relegated after dramatic loss in Freiburg". Bundesliga. Archived from the original on 25 June 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
7. "Bittencourt wechselt zur TSG Hoffenheim". TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (Press release) (in German). 14 May 2018. Archived from the original on 2 March 2021. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
8. "Fix! Leonardo Bittencourt wechselt vom 1. FC Köln zur TSG Hoffenheim". SPORT1 (in German). 14 May 2018. Archived from the original on 23 February 2023. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
9. "Leonardo Bittencourt joins on loan from Hoffenheim". SV Werder Bremen. 2 September 2019. Archived from the original on 2 September 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
10. Philippsen, Petra (2 September 2019). "Werder zaubert im Transferendspurt Bittencourt aus dem Hut". Buten und Binnen (in German). Radio Bremen. Archived from the original on 14 September 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
11. "Auslaufende Verträge, Kaufpflicht von Toprak, Bittencourt und Selke: So geht es mit dem Werder-Kader weiter". Sportbuzzer (in German). 7 July 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
12. "DFB - Deutscher Fußball-Bund e.V. - Team". 3 December 2012. Archived from the original on 3 December 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
13. "Leonardo Bittencourt » Club matches". worldfootball.net (in German). Retrieved 17 November 2019.
14. "Leonardo Bittencourt". kicker Online. Retrieved 18 November 2019.