Tottenham's Ambitious Summer Transfer Strategy: Savinho Signing
Tottenham are closing in on another statement signing, with an agreement in place to buy winger Savinho from Manchester City for £75million, plus a further £10m in potential add-ons, as the club’s extraordinary summer rebuild gathers pace.
Spurs are also targeting his City team-mate Omar Marmoush, underlining the scale of their ambition in a window that has already redrawn the limits of their spending.
Record fees, bigger expectations
Savinho’s arrival would push Tottenham’s outlay for the summer beyond the £300m mark. They have already smashed their transfer record twice in a matter of weeks: first with the £85m deal for Mateus Fernandes, then with the £100m signing of Sandro Tonali from Newcastle.
This is not tinkering around the edges. It is a full-scale reset.
Roberto De Zerbi, though, refused to be drawn directly on Savinho while the deal remains unsigned.
“It is not right to speak about players until they are official,” the Spurs head coach said when asked about the Brazil international. “Just to say, I am very happy. We have not finished yet in the transfer market. It is an important part.
“So far, we have had a great [summer for] signings. Great players and personalities. But you don’t win the game with big-name players. We have to deserve to win games.”
The message was clear: the chequebook alone will not carry Tottenham where they want to go.
De Zerbi’s project takes shape
De Zerbi, appointed in March, walked into a club staring at the trapdoor. He steered Spurs away from relegation on the final day of last season, and those fraught weeks have left their mark.
“It feels like I’ve been here ten years, but just three months,” he said. “Three very intense months. We can’t forget what happened last season. It’s a big lesson for us. We are building a big project.”
The Italian spoke with obvious satisfaction about the alignment behind the scenes.
“We are working very well with Johan Lange, with Vinai [Venkatesham], and with Nick [Beucher] — with the whole board,” he said, pointing to a recruitment structure now fully tuned to his demands.
The spending suggests backing. The language suggests this is only the start.
‘Find the soul of the team’
For all the noise around fees and names, De Zerbi keeps returning to something more abstract — and, in his eyes, more important.
“Now the big challenge — the first two targets — we are very clear in ourselves, is to find the soul of the team,” he explained. “The second target is to improve in our organisation of football, with the ball and without the ball.
“Our style has to be the key of our season. These two characteristics I want to find as soon as possible.”
That is the standard he is setting: not just survival, not just marquee signings, but a recognisable identity that can carry Tottenham into a new era.
If Savinho and perhaps Marmoush do walk through the door next, they will join a club spending like a contender and a coach demanding they play like one.
