Rwan Cruz

Rwan Cruz

Rwan with Santos in 2022
Personal information
Full name	Rwan Philipe Rodrigues de Souza Cruz
Date of birth	(2001-05-20) 20 May 2001 (age 24)
Place of birth	Jaboatão dos Guararapes, Brazil
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) [1]
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Real Salt Lake (on loan from Botafogo)
Number	12
Youth career
2014	Náutico
2015–2018	Sport Recife
2019	Figueirense
2020–2021	Flamengo-SP
2020–2021	→ Santos (loan)
2022	Santos
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2022–2023	Santos	28	(3)
2023	→ Vasco da Gama (loan)	2	(0)
2023	→ Ludogorets Razgrad (loan)	17	(5)
2024–2025	Ludogorets Razgrad	33	(19)
2025–	Botafogo	14	(2)
2025	→ Real Salt Lake (loan)	0	(0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 06:23, 25 July 2025 (UTC)

Rwan Philipe Rodrigues de Souza Cruz (born 20 May 2001), known as Rwan Seco, Rwan Cruz or just Rwan, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Major League Soccer club Real Salt Lake, on loan from Botafogo.

Career

Early career

Born in Cajueiro Seco, a small neighborhood in Jaboatão dos Guararapes, Pernambuco, ^[2] 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 as they offered a small funding assistance. ^[3]

Rwan left Sport in the end of 2018 and subsequently signed for Figueirense, but spent nine months without playing at his new side due to a registration problem. ^[2] He subsequently moved to Flamengo-SP, but returned to his hometown in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and helped his father as a bricklayer. ^{[2] [4]}

Santos

In June 2020, Rwan agreed to join Santos on loan from Flamengo, being initially assigned to the under-20s. ^[5] However, due to the club's transfer ban, he was registered only in the following May. ^[6]

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. ^[7] He made his professional debut on 20 February 2022, coming on as a second-half substitute for Lucas Braga in a 3–0 Campeonato Paulista home loss against São Paulo. ^[8]

Rwan scored his first senior goal on 23 February 2022, netting his team's third in a 3–0 away win over Salgueiro, for the year's Copa do Brasil. ^[9]

Loan to Vasco da Gama

On 31 March 2023, Rwan was loaned to fellow top tier side Vasco da Gama until the end of the year, with a buyout clause. ^[10]

Ludogorets Razgrad

On 22 July 2023, Rwan was announced at Bulgarian side Ludogorets Razgrad on loan for one year, with a buyout option. ^[11] In January 2024, he signed a permanent contract with the club, with Nonato moving in the opposite direction.

Botafogo

On 7 February 2025, Botafogo announced the signing of Rwan on a four-year contract. ^[12]

Career statistics

As of 10 February 2025 ^[13]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			State League		Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Santos	2021	Série A	0	0	—		—		—		4 [a]	0	4	0
	2022		17	2	4	0	3	1	6 [b]	1	—		30	4
	2023		0	0	7	1	0	0	0	0	—		7	1
	Total		17	2	11	1	3	1	6	1	4	0	41	5
Vasco da Gama (loan)	2023	Série A	2	0	—		0	0	—		—		2	0
Ludogorets Razgrad (loan)	2023–24	Bulgarian First League	17	5	—		2	2	10 [c]	2	0	0	29	9
Ludogorets Razgrad	2023–24	Bulgarian First League	15	9	—		3	1	2 [d]	0	1 [e]	0	21	10
	2024–25		18	10	—		1	0	15 [f]	1	0	0	34	10
	Total		50	24	0	0	6	4	27	3	2	0	81	29
Botafogo	2025	Série A	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Career total			69	25	11	1	9	4	33	4	5	0	127	34

1. Appearance(s) in Copa Paulista
2. Appearance(s) in Copa Sudamericana
3. Four appearances in UEFA Europa League, four appearances and two goals in UEFA Europa Conference League
4. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
5. Appearances in Bulgarian Supercup
6. Five appearances in UEFA Champions League, ten appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League

References

1. "Rwan Seco". Santos FC. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
2. "Santos: Rwan, sensação do time sub-20, quase largou o futebol e fez bico como ajudante de pedreiro" [Santos: Rwan, sensation of the under-20 team, nearly dropped football and did a side hustle as an assistant of a bricklayer] (in Brazilian Portuguese). ESPN Brasil. 3 December 2021. Archived from the original on 20 January 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
3. "Antes de ser 10 do Santos, Rwan dormiu embaixo de arquibancada e foi ajudante de pedreiro" [Before being Santos' number 10, Rwan slept behind a grandstand and was an assistant of a bricklayer] (in Brazilian Portuguese). Diário do Peixe. 5 January 2022. Archived from the original on 5 January 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
4. "De ajudante de pedreiro à Copa SP: Rwan supera dificuldades e vira a aposta do Santos no torneio" [From an assistant of a bricklayer to the Copa SP: Rwan overcomes difficulties and becomes a bet of Santos in the tournament] (in Brazilian Portuguese). ge. 2 January 2022. Archived from the original on 20 January 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
5. "Promessa! Centroavante pernambucano cria da base do Sport é destaque do Santos Sub-23" [Prospect! Pernambucano centre forward raised at Sport is a spotlight at Santos under-23s] (in Brazilian Portuguese). Fora de Campo. 2 July 2021. Archived from the original on 20 January 2022. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
6. "Após fim do transfer ban, Santos registra contrato de lateral-esquerdo na CBF" [After end of the transfer ban, Santos register contract of left-back in the CBF] (in Brazilian Portuguese). Gazeta Esportiva. 17 May 2021. Archived from the original on 20 January 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
7. "Atacante Rwan, destaque das categorias de base, é contratado em definitivo" [Forward Rwan, spotlight of the youth setup, is signed permanently] (in Brazilian Portuguese). Santos FC. 16 December 2021. Archived from the original on 20 January 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
8. "São Paulo vence Santos, quebra jejum na Vila Belmiro e sobe no Paulistão" [São Paulo defeat Santos, break a taboo at the Vila Belmiro and rise in the Paulistão] (in Brazilian Portuguese). ge. 20 February 2022. Archived from the original on 20 February 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
9. "Rwan faz o primeiro gol pelo profissional do Santos e diz: "Tenho certeza que é daqui para cima"" [Rwan scores the first goal for the first team of Santos and says: "I am sure that is onwards and upwards"] (in Brazilian Portuguese). ge. 23 February 2022. Archived from the original on 24 February 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
10. "Santos FC empresta atacante Rwan Seco ao Vasco até o final de 2023" [Santos FC loan forward Rwan Seco to Vasco until the end of 2023] (in Brazilian Portuguese). Santos FC. 31 March 2023. Archived from the original on 31 March 2023. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
11. "Ludogorets signed with attacker from Brazil". PFC Ludogorets Razgrad. 22 July 2023. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
12. "Rwan Cruz é do Alvinegro" [Rwan Cruz belongs to the black-and-white] (in Brazilian Portuguese). Botafogo FR. 7 February 2025. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
13. Rwan Cruz at Soccerway . Retrieved 26 November 2021.

External links

• Santos FC profile (in Brazilian Portuguese)