Leandro Castan was born in Brazil on 5 November 1986. A skilful central defender who is good in the air, he came through the ranks at Atletico Miniero before breaking into the first team. After two seasons he moved to Helsingborgs in Sweden, but only made four appearances for the club before returning to his homeland, signing for Gremio Barueri. Before long he switched to Corinthians, where he became a permanent fixture in the side that won the league in 2011. He was also an important member of the team that beat Boca Juniors to lift the Copa Libertadores in July 2012. Baldini and Sabatini were both impressed by his performances and Roma moved quickly to snap him up in the summer transfer window. Castan joined up with Zeman's group just in time for the club's US tour.

Early career
He signed for the Swedish club Helsingborgs IF in the summer of 2007 from Brazil's Atlético Mineiro. He made his Allsvenskan debut on 24 September 2007 in a match against Örebro SK which Helsingborg lost 4–3. He scored Helsingborgs only goal against PSV Eindhoven in the return leg in the UEFA Cup round of 32 on 21 February 2008.

Roma
In the 2012–13 season, he was singned by AS Roma, for a transfer fee of 5,5 million €. He earned a place in the starting 11 thanks to a number of consecutive solid performances. He scored his first goal for Roma on December 8, in a 4-2 win over ACF Fiorentina.