Tottenham sign Savinho for £75m - what will he bring to club?

Tottenham have signed Brazil winger Savinho from Manchester City for an initial £75m.

The 22-year-old has joined Spurs on a long-term contract with Roberto de Zerbi's side potentially paying a further £10m in add-ons.

Savinho's move to north London has been more than 12 months in the making, with Spurs failing in a bid to sign him last summer.

Savinho opted to remain at Etihad Stadium, but his game time was limited under Pep Guardiola last term when he made just seven Premier League starts.

"It's taken a while but I'm very happy to be here," said Savinho.

"It's a wonderful opportunity at a brilliant club with one of the best managers in the world.

"As soon as I spoke to the head coach I knew I had to come. He told me he wants to help me reach the highest level, and I believe we can do that together, as a team."

Savinho joined City from French side Troyes in a £30.8m deal in 2024 and has made 84 appearances for the club in total, scoring seven goals and providing 16 assists.

The Brazil international joins Spurs following the arrivals of Mateus Fernandes from West Ham, Sandro Tonali from Newcastle and Jan Paul van Hecke from Brighton this summer for a combined £312m.

Spurs have also brought in defenders Marcos Senesi and Andrew Robertson in on free transfers and goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.

Tottenham's new addition has asked to be known as Savio - his first name - rather than Savinho, as he was during his two years at City.

During the winger's previous spell at Girona he had Savio on his shirt, but he opted for a change when he moved to the Premier League.

He said he hoped that decision would "bring him luck" - having had Savinho on the back of his jersey for his Brazil debut - but has now reverted to Savio.

"Savio is a player who brings energy, imagination and quality in wide positions. He has the courage to attack defenders and the ability to change a game with his creativity," said De Zerbi.

City also remain in advanced talks to sell Egypt forward Omar Marmoush to Spurs, and sources with knowledge of the situation say there is a "good chance" the deal gets completed before the 1 September transfer deadline.

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Savinho brings a different route forward

Savinho's involvement for City fell sharply last season after the club signed winger Antoine Semenyo from Bournemouth in January.

He played 821 Premier League minutes, scoring once and providing one assist, while featuring in only 31% of City's available minutes across all competitions.

That was a significant drop from the previous campaign, when he played 54% of City's minutes.

Yet his 2024-25 numbers show why Tottenham are prepared to invest heavily in him. Savinho registered eight Premier League assists that season, all from open play, despite playing only 1,773 minutes. Only five players recorded more from open play.

On a per-90 basis, he ranked third for open-play assists with 0.41, while only Mohamed Salah created more chances per 90 than Savinho's 2.2.

His biggest threat, though, came from carrying the ball. Among Premier League players with at least 1,000 minutes in 2024-25, only Jeremy Doku averaged more progressive carries of at least 10 metres than Savinho's 6.8 per 90.

Savinho also led the division for carries followed by a chance created, averaging 1.3 per 90, while only Son Heung-min ended a carry with an assist more frequently.

He completed 2.6 dribbles per 90 with a 51% success rate and used those carries to draw defenders towards him before releasing team-mates.

That ability was even more evident during his breakout season at Girona. Savinho played 2,989 minutes in La Liga in 2023-24, with 65% of them coming on the left wing. He scored nine goals, supplied eight assists and established himself as one of the division's most dangerous one-against-one players.

At City his role shifted. Across his two Premier League seasons, his most common position was on the right, accounting for 36% of his minutes, compared with 20% on the left. That versatility could matter at Spurs.

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