Tottenham Hotspur manager Roberto De Zerbi has been zeroing in on Savinho and Cody Gakpo as his main two transfer targest up front, and whlie both players are largely seen as left wingers, they are totally different profiles, with Gakpo even being rumored as a possible center forward signing for De Zerbi in lieu of any true top strikers being readily available for Spurs this summer. Meanwhile, as a left footer, Savinho is also capable of playing on the right hand side.
Between the two of them, Savinho is the more likely to join Spurs, as the young Brazilian international is pushing harder for a move and may starting to actually be close to a transfer, while the jury is still out on if Liverpool want to sell Gakpo at all - which is technically also the case for Manchester City, who have been slow to move themselves this summer - even if they sign Bradley Barcola from PSG for massive, massive money.
Cody Gakpo can bring more goals than Savinho
The thing is, Tottenham's significant interest in Gakpo may play into their interest in Savinho. Because while a lot of praise can be sent to the Brazilian for his explosiveness, speed, dribbling ability, acceleration, skill, and quality to create chaos in one on ones, he only has a couple of league goals in his career at the Etihad and is barely a threat to score for a Tottenham Hotspur team that beyond desperately needs goal soring sources. Their top scorer last season was Richarlison, and their next best players in front of goal were their starting center backs and defensive midfielder Joao Palhinha - three of those four may not be at Tottenham in 2026/27.
So you can see that Tottenham and Roberto De Zerbi know they need players who can finish their chances off. Savinho can create goals and open up the entire offense with everything else he does, but that doesn't change the fact that the Lilywhites still need someone who can convert the chances.
Enter Cody Gakpo. He isn't the most elite scoring threat, but he can score more goals that Savinho with more physicality and better finishing chops. He benefis from being older and not playing as wide, but with seven goals last season for Liverpool and some incredible scoring performances for the Netherlands where he is more central to the team's playing style, Gakpo has the upside to bring what Savinho doesn't in terms of goal scoring. De Zerbi's interest in Gakpo may be about supplementing Savinho with a profile who is his opposite, and that can shed light on why Spurs are so interested in stealing away the Liverpool star despite a flop of a 2025/26 season without Luis Diaz out wide.
In that way, Gakpo could be De Zerbi's answer to adding the goals that Savinho may not bring if they sign him to be an option on the wings.
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