Tottenham Nears Deal for Savinho as City Pursues PSG's Mbaye
Tottenham Hotspur’s long pursuit of Savinho is finally moving towards a conclusion, and this time Manchester City look ready to let him go.
Spurs first tried to prise the Brazilian away last summer, even floating a £60million offer. City blocked the move. Savinho stayed, signed a new six-year contract and watched the noise die down.
It has roared back.
Savinho back in Spurs’ sights
Savinho had been keen on the switch to north London a year ago, believing he was being underused by Pep Guardiola and eyeing a bigger role under Ange Postecoglou. City’s stance and that fresh deal at the Etihad briefly shut the door.
Tottenham never fully walked away.
In recent months, they have pushed again. On Thursday, transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano underlined where their focus lies, dismissing talk of a move for Napoli youngster Antonio Vergara and making it clear Savinho sits at the top of their winger shortlist.
Romano stated that Vergara is signing a new contract at Napoli with an improved salary and was “never a target” for Spurs, even when rumours first emerged at the end of May and into June. The noise has resurfaced, but Tottenham’s attention has not shifted.
The winger they want is Savinho. Everything else is background chatter.
£65m on the table – and Savinho wants it
According to the Daily Mail’s Simon Jones, Spurs have now moved beyond last summer’s proposal and are closing in on a £65m agreement with City. The structure of the deal is not detailed, but the headline figure signals how far Tottenham are prepared to go.
Crucially, Savinho is ready. He wants the move, and personal terms are not expected to be a problem, which should keep the process relatively swift once the clubs finalise the fee.
Tottenham have explored alternatives. Cody Gakpo and Rafael Leao have both been discussed internally, with Spurs testing the waters on different profiles for the wide role Postecoglou wants to upgrade.
Liverpool shut the door on Gakpo on Wednesday, making it clear they plan to strengthen their own winger options rather than sell. Leao, meanwhile, has been open to the idea of a switch. It emerged on July 5 that the AC Milan star had said yes to joining Spurs in a possible €50m (£42m) deal.
Yet Tottenham appear prepared to walk away from that opportunity. Their preference is Savinho, even at a significantly higher cost. That choice says plenty about how they see the Brazilian’s ceiling and fit in Postecoglou’s system.
City turn to Ibrahim Mbaye
On the other side of the deal, City are already moving to reshape their own wing options. Jones reports that they have joined Aston Villa, RB Leipzig and Tottenham themselves in monitoring Paris Saint-Germain talent Ibrahim Mbaye.
The 18-year-old winger, who caught the eye for Senegal at the World Cup, is ready to leave the French champions this summer. With competition for attacking places at PSG only intensifying, Mbaye wants regular senior football rather than a season spent sliding down the pecking order.
He is now represented by Jorge Mendes, a detail that usually signals serious market movement around a player of his age and profile.
City had previously explored the idea of signing Rodrygo from Real Madrid as a potential replacement for Savinho, sounding out the Spanish giants last year. That enquiry went nowhere and both deals stalled. This time, they are casting the net wider, with Mbaye among the options under consideration as they prepare to cash in on Savinho.
The pressure is building at both ends of the negotiation. Spurs are pushing to give Postecoglou the winger he has wanted for over a year. City are bracing to lose a player they once locked down on a six-year deal and are already eyeing the next wide prospect.
If Tottenham complete this move, they will have turned down a cheaper path to Leao and walked away from Gakpo to back their conviction in Savinho. For a club trying to bridge the gap to the very top, it is a bold, expensive bet on one Brazilian’s ability to change the tempo of their attack.
