Tottenham Closes in on Savinho for £65 Million
Tottenham Hotspur look to be finally getting their man. A year after their first serious move for Savinho was knocked back, the London club are now closing on a £65million deal for the Manchester City winger – and the dominoes are already starting to fall.
Spurs return for long-time target
Tottenham’s interest in Savinho is not new, nor is it half-hearted. They made contact last summer and were prepared to go as high as £60m to prise him away from City. The answer was a firm no. City had no intention of selling and even explored the idea of bringing in Real Madrid’s Rodrygo as a potential replacement, only for both ideas to stall.
Savinho, frustrated by what he felt was limited game time under Pep Guardiola, had been keen on a move to north London back then. Instead, he signed a new six-year contract at the Etihad, a statement deal that seemed to shut the door on Tottenham and cool the noise around his future.
It only paused it.
Spurs quietly re-ignited their pursuit in recent months, and this time the landscape looks very different. According to Simon Jones of the Daily Mail, Tottenham are now “edging closer” to landing the 22-year-old, with City preparing for life without him.
Romano: Savinho, not Vergara, is the one
As speculation swirled around potential wide targets for Ange Postecoglou, Fabrizio Romano moved to clear the air on Thursday. Talk of Napoli youngster Antonio Vergara heading to Spurs had gathered pace; Romano dismissed it.
“I also wanted to clarify that the links between Tottenham Hotspur and Antonio Vergara are not true. Vergara is not a target for Tottenham,” he said, adding that the midfielder is instead signing a new contract at Napoli with an improved salary.
The message from Romano was blunt. Vergara was never on Tottenham’s list, even when rumours first surfaced at the end of May and into June. Those whispers have resurfaced, but Spurs’ priority has not changed.
“Don’t forget that Tottenham want to sign Savinho. The player they want for winger position is Savinho. So let’s see what’s gonna happen there.”
The answer, now, seems clear enough: Tottenham are pushing the deal over the line.
City turn to Ibrahim Mbaye
As Spurs move in, City are already plotting the next step. Jones reports that Pep Guardiola’s side have turned their attention to Paris Saint-Germain’s Ibrahim Mbaye, one of the standout young wingers in African football.
“Manchester City, Aston Villa, Tottenham and RB Leipzig are among the clubs monitoring developments with Paris Saint-Germain winger Ibrahim Mbaye,” Jones wrote.
The 18-year-old, who impressed for Senegal at the World Cup, is ready to leave the European champions this summer. With his route to regular minutes blocked and competition only increasing, Mbaye wants competitive football, not a seat in the stands. He is now represented by Jorge Mendes, a detail that tends to accelerate big moves rather than slow them.
Jones adds that “City are looking for wingers as they close the sale of Savinho to Tottenham for around £65million.” Their long-standing enquiry for Rodrygo at Real Madrid has not disappeared from the record, but they have “other options too” – Mbaye now prominent among them.
The message is unmistakable: City are preparing for Savinho’s exit, and Tottenham are the buyers.
Tottenham choose Savinho over Leao and Gakpo
For Spurs, this is not a deal made in isolation. It is a deliberate choice in a crowded market.
They have been linked with a string of wide forwards, including Cody Gakpo and Rafael Leao. On Wednesday, Liverpool made their stance clear: Gakpo is going nowhere. With the Anfield club looking to strengthen, not weaken, their own winger pool, any notion of a sale was quickly shut down.
Leao, by contrast, has been open to the idea. On July 5, it emerged that the AC Milan star had said yes to a potential move to Tottenham in a deal worth around €50m (£42m). On paper, that figure looks kinder than the £65m being readied for Savinho.
Yet Spurs are steering towards the Brazilian. They have identified him as their first-choice winger and are acting like it. The deal is expected to be relatively straightforward now: Savinho wants the move, and personal terms are not expected to be an obstacle.
Tottenham had to wait a year for City’s stance to soften. They had to watch their original bid turned away, see the player sign a six-year deal elsewhere, and keep their nerve as other options emerged. Now, with City hunting for Mbaye and Savinho ready to step into a starring role in north London, they are on the brink of getting the winger they always wanted.
The question now is simple: if Spurs complete this move, how much higher can Ange Postecoglou’s side push the ceiling of what they expect this season?
