Tottenham Hotspur have been linked with a new bid for Manchester City winger Savinho - but would signing him be too big of a risk?
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So far, Tottenham Hotspur’s summer business has been eminently sensible. Acquiring both Marcos Senesi and Andrew Robertson on free transfers has added strength and depth to the squad while keeping costs under control. A much bigger splash seems to be on the horizon, however.
Multiple stories in the Brazilian media suggest that Spurs are set to make a second stab at signing Manchester City winger Savinho after an abortive bid late last summer. This time, they have a rather better chance of success – but is the £50m-rated winger worth the investment, and how likely is it that a deal gets done?
Spurs linked with a fresh bid for Manchester City’s Savinho
Around a year ago, Spurs made an approach to Manchester City regarding Savinho’s availability and were swiftly rebuffed. 12 months on, however, and the picture has changed considerably.
Rayan Cherki and Antoine Semenyo have displace Savinho from the starting line-up at the Etihad and the 22-year-old made just seven league starts over the course of the 2025/26 campaign. Spurs could be sensing a chance to take another bite at the cherry.
Globo Esporte reported earlier this week that Spurs have already opened talks with Manchester City in the hopes of negotiating a deal, and the early signals are that they will be rather more receptive this time around – and the player himself could be keen to jump ship.
On Friday, ESPN Brasil reaffirmed the claim that discussions have already started and further suggested that Savinho “wants to leave” City to join Spurs. There’s no suggestion that personal terms have been agreed or that the two sides are in alignment on his valuation, but either the winger is taking big strides towards North London or the Brazilian media have collectively got things very wrong indeed.
Reports from last summer suggested that Manchester City valued Savinho at over £50m last year, although in the end they decided not to negotiate with Spurs at all. Whether that price tag has fallen in the interim is unclear – while he perhaps hasn’t justified such a large outlay on the field of late, he remains a significant talent with five years left on his contract. He certainly won’t come too cheap.
But he is looking increasingly like a spare part at the Etihad and it’s unlikely that City would play hardball this time around. If Spurs are indeed still interested in Savinho, they may very well have the chance to land him – and none of the reports about his future have yet mentioned any other bidders, suggesting that they will have a clear path to his signature. But is he good enough to help Spurs to turn things around?
Is signing Savinho really a risk worth taking?
With the defensive rebuild already taking shape, Spurs have a little more freedom to turn their attention to the task of patching up a misfiring attack over the course of the coming transfer window. Signing Savinho would give them a winger who is more direct and perhaps more daring than the players currently on the books – but also one who is severely out of sorts.
Right wing is a clear position of need for Spurs, who failed to find a convincing starter there last season after Mohammed Kudus sustained the quadriceps injury which has sidelined him since January – but Savinho offers the ability to play on both flanks, adding competition across the attack.
The question is how good that competition will be. Savinho scored just once in seven 24 league appearances in 2025/26 and even if only seven of them were starts, there’s clear evidence that he sorely need to sharpen up in the penalty area to realise his full potential – having only scored one Premier League goal in his debut season, too, he now has just two top-flight goals from an xG total of 7.34. Most centre-backs have considerably better conversion rates in front of goal.
His creativity and dribbling quality made up for that a year ago and persuaded Manchester City that Savinho was unsellable, but there has been a sharp decline in that area. Eight assists in 2024/25 became just one in 2025/26, and his success rate when taking a defender on went from an impressive 57% to a woeful 32%. Savinho’s form fell away sharply over the past year.
For Spurs, the question is whether that was just a blip which can be rectified with more regular football and an injection of confidence – and also whether he can ever be coached into being a better finisher. The other question is just how big of a gamble they’re willing to take on him. He certainly didn’t look much like a £50m player over the past year.
Savinho has considerable potential and enjoyed a debut campaign which implied that he can cut it in the Premier League, but he needs to right the ship. Perhaps Spurs, a side who are listing heavily themselves, would be taking too great of a risk in putting their faith in the Brazilian to be the winger they need next year.