Help with promotion to Serie A
©IMAGO
At the age of 39, Rafinha returns to his youth club. The former Schalke and Munich player will join Coritiba FC on January 1, 2025 and will help the Brazilian second division club get promoted back to the Série A. Rafinha was at Coritiba from 2002 to 2005 before moving to the Royal Blues for 5 million euros. The right-back has played for São Paulo for the last three years.
“I am here to fulfill the promise I made when I left almost 20 years ago. I’m back in Coritiba, the club that discovered me and that opened the doors to the world of football for me. It is a pleasure to return and help Coritiba reach the level it deserves,” Rafinha said in a club announcement on social media.
Coritiba’s main goal for 2025 is to return to the Brazilian top flight, which they were last part of in 2023. Rafinha played a total of 332 Bundesliga games for Schalke (2005 to 2010) and Bayern (2011 to 2019), the third most by a Brazilian in the German upper house.
Rafinha in the Transfermarkt interview.
