It has been revealed that a Manchester City star’s “really bad” situation could see Tottenham attempt to bail him out in the January window.
An injury has kept Savinho sidelined at the start of this season. His last minutes came in the Club World Cup, where he scored one goal and assisted another in three games.
He was since courted by Tottenham, and TEAMtalk were aware that the Brazilian was keen on the move given the lure of more minutes than he might get at City, but Pep Guardiola’s side were adamant against a sale in the summer.
Savinho played 29 Premier League games last season and started 21 of those, but if numbers don’t rise back to that level once he’s fit this season, city expert Steven McInerney has suggested Tottenham might come on the attack.
“If Savinho is not playing an awful lot, at that point the same argument [from the summer] comes in that he’ll want to get into [Brazil’s] World Cup squad and Tottenham might offer him more of a chance to do that because they might play him more,” he told Sports Mole.
“I still think at that point, in mid-season, City will probably just say no. There’s a January tax and they’ll be looking at making over £80million, otherwise come back in the summer and we can talk.
“I think the likelihood of him going in January is small, because I think City would have to still find a replacement and I just don’t see City being fine with that personally.
“Stranger things have happened and it’s definitely possible. To counter myself, Hugo Viana [Man City’s director of football] was very happy to be very active last January. A whole bunch of signings: [Omar] Marmoush, [Abdukodir] Khusanov, Vitor Reis and Nico Gonzalez – so maybe we could sign a big player in January [to replace Savinho].
“I still would argue that it’s unlikely, because I think it has to be really bad for Savinho to want to move, and even then City would have to find a replacement which feels unlikely to me.”
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Is there a role for Savinho?
McInerney feels there’s an avenue which could see Savinho given few minutes once he is back fit.
“He’s not going to randomly leave in a World Cup year to join Spurs mid-season if he nails down a starting spot (at Man City) and he’s in really good form,” he said.
“The flip side of that is if Oscar Bobb nails down that starting spot [on the right] and [Savinho] doesn’t get any joy playing on the left because Marmoush or [Jeremy] Doku or whoever starts a lot, and then [Phil] Foden starts to get minutes ahead of Savinho.”
But could that happen? Bobb clearly has the faith of Guardiola at the moment, having played 255 of a possible 270 minutes so far this season. His Premier League career has been stop-start given a lengthy injury last season, and given he has just one assist, he’s surely not an absolute certainty to start.
He has more attacking minutes than any other player, which suggests the left wing may have an opening. Marmoush has played 150 minutes, Doku 120 and Foden just 15. Each are yet to score, so if Savinho has an impact when he’s back on the field, he could win a starting spot.
Tottenham round-up: Mayulu move revealed
TEAMtalk sources have revealed that Tottenham made a late move to sign Paris Saint-Germain’s Senny Mayulu in the summer, but the hopeful enquiry came to nothing.
Meanwhile, TEAMtalk is also aware of Spurs interest in some other talents – Cooper Mason and Anton Robinson are among them.
Both are youngsters who are seen to have a lot of potential.
And, a spectacular report has revealed Daniel Levy was willing to land the historic signing of Rodrygo from Real Madrid before his departure from role as executive chairman – but an offer never materialised.