€50m market value
©TM/IMAGO
Tottenham Hotspur’s summer rebuild is showing no signs of slowing down. A new manager is at the helm with Thomas Frank taking the reigns from Ange Postecoglou, and the style of play will likely be very different this season. Mohammed Kudus has been the marquee signing to date following his €63.8 million move from West Ham, but the north London club are now being linked to one of Brazil’s brightest young attacking prospects in the form of Manchester City’s Savinho. According to The Athletic, Spurs have approached Man City over an attempt to sign Savinho with dialogue taking place between the clubs and a package worth in the region of €50m being discussed.
However, City reportedly do not ideally want to sell and their perspective is that it would take much more than £50m to consider his exit. Nevertheless, the 21-year-old Brazil international is thought to be open to the possibility and City manager Pep Guardiola tends not to stand in the way of player who wishes to leave the club. The Sky Blues also have a lot of competition in attacking areas. Spurs’ reported interest signals a continued push to inject youth, dynamism, and unpredictability into their front line, but how could Tottenham potentially line up with Savinho this season?
How Tottenham could line up with Savinho
If the move materialises, Savinho could feasibly be used in various roles for Frank’s side. He could either add competition for Kudus, Dejan Kulusevski and Brennan Johnson on the right, or offer a new dimension on the left, potentially tasked with replacing the departed Son Heung-min. If he does make the move to north London, it’s likely to be under the prerequisite that Savinho will be a regular starter, and with the Brazilian being left-footed, starting off the right-wing would be his most natural position. However, new signing Kudus is also left-footed and has played much of Spurs’ pre-season off of the right flank.
One way around this, as illustrated in the graphic above, could be to play Kudus behind the striker in the no.10 role, and Savinho on the right-wing. The Ghanian completed some of his best and most lethal work for West Ham in central areas and could certainly add a new dimension to Tottenham’s attack from this kind of position. This would allow Savinho to play in his natural role and form an exciting young trio with Kudus and potentially Mathys Tel behind striker Dominic Solanke. If a deal was completed, it would cap off an already ambitious summer window in which Tottenham have sought to blend emerging talents with proven quality, as they aim to close the gap on the Premier League’s top clubs after finishing a disappointing 17th last term.