Manchester City could have landed themselves a superstar had they allowed Savinho to move to Tottenham this summer.
Spurs were very keen on the Brazilian winger due to their new manager, Thomas Frank, being a big fan of the 21-year-old.
Daniel Levy was told by Man City officials that Savinho would cost Tottenham over £69m following their match at the Etihad Stadium last month, and despite the North London club being willing to pay that, the deal never happened.
Man City blocked Savinho from leaving the club, and had they not done that, the Premier League giants may have signed a superstar as his replacement.
Savinho looking frustrated during Juventus FC v Manchester City FC: Group G
Photo by Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images
Man City had concrete interest in Rodrygo
Had Savinho left Man City, Pep Guardiola was very keen on Real Madrid’s Rodrygo being his replacement, with the Manchester club said to have been willing to spend £87m to sign the Brazilian international.
City were looking to pounce on the 24-year-old’s situation in Madrid as the winger is out of favour with the La Liga club’s new coach, Xabi Alonso, and has barely played ever since the Spanish coach took over at the Bernabeu this summer.
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Reflecting on the transfer saga, Fabrizio Romano says Man City’s interest in Rodrygo was concrete, but a move was never going to happen so long as Savinho remained at the Etihad Stadium.
“So Rodrygo is sending love messages to Real Madrid. Why? Because the story of Rodrygo this summer has been quite intense,” Romano said on his YouTube channel.
“The interest from Manchester City was very strong, very real, very concrete. Manchester City wanted to go for Rodrygo, but only in the case of the exit of Savinho. This was a financial decision. If Savinho went to Tottenham, in that case, Rodrygo would have a concrete chance to go to Manchester City.
“Man City never made an official bid to Real Madrid. So, it was always an internal conversation they had and Manchester City. But in all the internal conversations, the name mentioned by Pep Guardiola in case Man City was going to add one more player up front was Rodrygo.”
It would have been interesting to see what would have happened had Savinho left Man City, as it is believed that Rodrygo had no intention of leaving Real Madrid.
Real Madrid star Rodrygo in action against Al-Hilal in Club World Cup.
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images
Rodrygo never wanted to leave Real Madrid
Man City fans were not too bothered about missing out on Rodrygo, as they have high hopes for Savinho, and there was no guarantee that the Manchester club would have got the winger anyway, because he has always wanted to stay in Madrid.
“Rodrygo never opened the doors to an exit. So that deal of Rodrygo was a desire of Manchester City but never started as a concrete negotiation with the player who always confirmed his intention to be very happy at Real Madrid to compete at Real Madrid to try to convince Xabi Alonso and also the club,” Romano said.
“From what I heard, Real Madrid made clear to Intermediaries that to get Rodrygo, it was never going to be less than €100m (£87m) and probably something around €120m (£104m).”
Had Savinho left, Man City would have likely paid the £104m for the player as they would have been desperate for a replacement; however, it was too late in the window for both deals to happen.
Had Tottenham come calling for Savinho earlier, it is possible that Rodrygo would be a Man City player right now.