Tottenham Hotspur approach Manchester City over Savinho transfer

Tottenham Hotspur have approached Manchester City over an unexpected attempt to sign winger Savinho.

Dialogue has taken place between the clubs and a package worth in the region of €50million (£43.3m, $58.2m) was discussed.

City say they do not want to sell Savinho, communicated that in response to the enquiry and regard this matter as closed. Their perspective is that it would take much more than £50million to consider his exit.

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But other sources with knowledge of the situation regard Spurs’ pursuit as ongoing.

The 21-year-old Brazil international is open to the possibility and City manager Pep Guardiola tends not to stand in the way of player who wishes to leave.

Savinho joined City from Girona last summer and the Brazil international is contracted to them until June 2028.

The winger, who has scored one goal in 13 international appearances for Brazil, netted three times for Guardiola’s side across 48 appearances in 2024-25.

Having begun his career at Atletico Mineiro, he subsequently joined French club Troyes, part of the City Football Group (CFG).

He was loaned to PSV Eindhoven, where he made eight appearances in 2022-23, before in 2023-24 making a loan move to CFG sister club Girona, whom he helped to a top-four finish in La Liga and a first-ever club qualification to the Champions League, with 11 goals that term.

Savinho then made a permanent move to City, the flagship team of CFG, last summer.

“Savinho’s versatility will appeal to Frank”

Analysis by Jay Harris

Tottenham’s pursuit of Savinho looks slightly strange at first glance.

Son Heung-min completed his move to MLS side LAFC last week, but there are still a lot of wingers in their squad including Mathys Tel, Wilson Odobert, Brennan Johnson and Mohammed Kudus. Dejan Kulusevski is recovering from knee surgery but he can play out wide too.

Throughout pre-season, Odobert, Johnson and Son — before he left — rotated on the left wing. Tel mainly played as a central striker due to Dominic Solanke’s fitness issues.

Spurs ideally need someone with more experience who can hit the ground running as opposed to Savinho who only scored once in 29 league appearances for Man City last season.

Savinho’s versatility will appeal to Frank. In a season-long loan with Girona in 2023-24, the left-footed Brazilian mainly operated on the left wing and scored nine times with 10 assists. He switched between both wings under Guardiola at Man City.

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This is how the move starts to make sense from Tottenham’s perspective. James Maddison is likely to miss the majority of the season after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury earlier this month and Kulusevski is not due to return anytime soon.

Spurs are sorely lacking creativity in the middle of the pitch. By signing Savinho and playing him on the right wing, Frank might be thinking of using Kudus as a No 10. The 25-year-old has experience of playing there for Ghana.

Savinho can then act as a dynamic dribbler in one-v-one situations who cuts in from the right wing which Kudus has done during their pre-season fixtures.

The 21-year-old would add an exciting dimension to their attack, but the concern will be that they are just stockpiling players with a lot of potential instead of focusing on talent who can have an instant impact.

(Francois Nel/Getty Images)

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