Savinho to Tottenham for £85 MILLION… WTF?!

If Savinho’s Worth £85 Million, I’m Worth at Least £50 Million

We all woke up this morning asking ourselves the same question - how in the cat pyjamas is Savinho on the move for £85 million?!

The Brazilian has had two heavily underwhelming campaigns at Man City, scoring just seven goals and assisting 13 in his 84 appearances for the club - Mikhailo Mudryk has a better return in 11 fewer games despite widely being viewed as one of the biggest wastes of money in Premier League history.

If Savinho is truly worth £85 million, we should just bin off the the transfer window altogether.

Ronaldo was only £80 million 18 years ago

— Harry (@HarryPascoe6) August 21, 2026

How on earth have Tottenham been persuaded to spend so much on a player that, let's all be honest with ourselves here, looks completely average, the classic fake Brazilian?

Not So Savvy-nho…

For context, Manchester City paid around £21.5 million for the Brazilian winger two years ago after he had played a key part in taking Spanish Minnows Girona all the way to the Champions League, while also playing a crucial role in a season-long title race with the big dogs. 11 goals and 10 assists is enough to make anyone’s ears prick up.

Naturally, the best players from such an overperforming team are going to get a big move the following year, and thanks to Girona’s status as part of the City group, Guardiola and co. got the Brazilian at a discounted price, when in reality he should have been commanding £40 million or more.

However, it soon started to become clear that his discounted price should be his true value, as the Brazilian failed to show any of the impetus he had over in Spain. Though creatively he could be dangerous, his goal output was nowhere near where it should be for a Manchester City winger.

That Girona version of Savinho was the closest thing to Yamal.

I’m not sure what’s happened since.

But I’m a big believer in time. Players go through phases. We’ll see that version of him again next season.pic.twitter.com/pbqs3kigxI

— Geronimo Morgans (@GeronimoMorgans) March 31, 2026

Every time he got the ball, he teased the idea of doing something - a couple of step overs, a body feint, sometimes even beating a man. However, he almost exclusively failed to do anything significant with it, inevitably ending the move with a backwards pass.

City must be absolutely laughing. Signing Semenyo in January, while also boasting the likes of Doku, Cherki and Foden, they have virtually no need for Savinho anymore, so the fact they have been able to drive the fee up to £85 million for a player deemed ‘surplus to requirements’ is laughable in itself.

What’s even funnier is the fact that Tottenham were actually tricked into paying it. What on earth persuaded them to drop more than the fee that Cristiano Ronaldo was brought for by Real Madrid just 18 years ago?

Silly Spending

It’s no secret that Spurs have been splashing the cash in the market this summer, spending nigh on £320 million pounds, and that’s excluding the free arrivals of Marcos Senesi and Andy Robertson.

Roberto De Zerbi is clearly keen to avoid any 17th place faffing for the third season in the row, and if that means putting their bank account in serious jeopardy for the time being then so be it.

£100 million of Tonali was understandable, and £50-odd million on Jan Paul van Hecke could even be considered good business. £85 million for Mateus Fernandes did raise a few eyebrows, but it also wasn’t as shocking as some people would have you believe - the Portuguese midfielder had been due for a big move for some time.

Paying more for Savinho & less for Omar Marmoush to help City keep more cash because Eintracht Frankfurt have a sell on clause for Marmoush.

Just another one of those hilariously dodgy deals that is so authentically Premier League in 2026.

Nothing to see here though. https://t.co/gU8sN0S9vM

— Adam (@AdamJoseph) August 20, 2026

However, the transfer fee paid for Savinho has stopped everybody in their tracks. Had he arrived last transfer window, he would have been the clubs record signing, despite having done nothing to justify that lofty title.

The move just highlights how broken the transfer market is these days - there will come a point where youth players are switching clubs for £20 million apiece unless something is done to address the ever more unrealistic transfer fees being thrown around.

However, the window is also as baffling as it is broken - Spurs are also closing in on Omar Marmoush with a deal reportedly worth around £50 million, a much fairer fee for a better player.

There are reports circulating that the fee for Savinho is so huge because Marmoush has a 15% sell-on clause to former club Frankfurt. If the fees were reversed and it was Marmoush going for £85 million, City would be forced to give up much more money, depriving them of vital transfer window funds.

🚨 REPORT: Why are Spurs paying so much for Savinho?

The reported €151m double deal is split:

🇧🇷 Savinho — €99m
🇪🇬 Marmoush — €52m

The theory is that City are structuring the deal this way because Frankfurt reportedly have a 15% sell-on clause on Marmoush, reducing City’s… pic.twitter.com/hT1WGNJJS1

— Jamie Imber (@SpursMedia_) August 20, 2026

The solution to the problem is a double deal involving Savinho - by selling Marmoush for less, City give away much less, and the money that was removed from Marmoush’s transfer fee has instead been added on top of Savinho’s market value.

It’s all very complex and a little shady - what happened to the days where you just pay a player’s price? And even if there is a somewhat logical explanation behind the move, it still makes the transfer market look completely broken to anyone who doesn’t have that inside knowledge.

It’s silly from Spurs, it’s shady from City, and it completely ruins the excitement around these big money transfer moves. If Savinho is an £80+ million player, anyone can be.