For the second successive summer Savinho is being courted by Tottenham. Spurs showed an interest last year and, three managers later, are back in for the Manchester City man again.
The player himself fluttered his eyelashes at Spurs last season, posting social media images that hinted at a move, and is understood to be open to a switch to the capital this time around.
The Blues rebuffed interest 12 months ago and then handed the Brazilian a two-year contract extension, meaning the 22-year-old has a deal at the Etihad running until 2031.
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When that deal was announced, City Director of Football Hugo Viana said the Brazilian’s ‘potential is limitless’
“Savinho is still very young, but he has already demonstrated that he possesses the qualities needed to become a truly outstanding player,” Viana said. “He has so many excellent attributes. His potential really is limitless.
“He has superb natural ability, works incredibly hard day in, day out, and he is humble. He is very eager to keep learning and help the team, and his ambition is to be one of the best attacking players in the game.
“I have no doubt that by continuing to work with Pep and his coaching team, Savinho will go on to be a key part of our squad for many years to come.”
Guardiola had belief in the Brazilian and was keen to retain the wideman a year ago. But Savinho struggled to make a consistent impact and, in the main, was limited to appearances off the bench.
The former Blues boss praised the winger after the home win over Sunderland in early December, saying he would ‘play a lot of minutes.’
Since then however, Savinho managed fewer than 400 minutes in the Premier League and 90 of those came in the final game when the Blues rotated heavily. He made only three starts in total, played 90 minutes just twice and was 18th in the list of most top-flight minutes played by City players across the campaign.
Jeremy Doku’s rapid improvement, Antoine Semenyo’s arrival and Rayan Cherki’s stellar season all left Savinho with limited opportunities to impress and Guardiola’s faith in the former Troyes man seemed to wane as the campaign went on and trophies and the run-in honed into view.
Enzo Maresca will replace the departed Catalan in the dug-out, but that might not be enough to save a player who has had two years to showcase improvement and hasn’t quite delivered.
If a deal is done City will make a profit on the £30million they spent on the player in 2024 and a fee in the region of £50m feels sizeable for a player whose greatest attribute, as alluded to by Viana, is his potential. But potential is not enough, £50m surely is.
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