It is safe to say that Tottenham and Chelsea are not the best of friends.
The north Londoners and the west Londoners are bitter rivals, with one particularly feisty London derby back in May 2016 famously dubbed the Battle of the Bridge.
It was Chelsea who irked Spurs that day by ending Tottenham’s hopes of beating Leicester to the Premier League title.
Now – however – Tottenham could cause Chelsea some frustration too after opening talks with Manchester City over a move for Savinho.
How Savinho deal could cause an issue for Chelsea
TBR Football understand Spurs are in talks with Manchester City over a deal for the Brazil international – who is valued in excess of £50m.
A deal is possible with Savinho keen to be a regular in the starting XI – the South American made 21 starts out of a possible 38 in the Premier League last season.
The mere fact Tottenham have opened talks to sign the Brazilian has already led Manchester City to start negotiations over a deal for Xavi Simons – which is where Chelsea come into the situation.
Sacha Tavolieri believes the Citizens have made an approach for the Netherlands international as a replacement for Savinho.
🚨🔵⚪️🇳🇱 EXCLUSIVE: Manchester City enters the race for Xavi Simons!
💰 With the likely departure of Savinho, the Citizens have reestablished contact with super agent Ali Barat in an attempt to lure Xavi away from Chelsea.
🔵 On #CFC side, talks are still 🔛
Nothing changes.… pic.twitter.com/klprBkND9Y
— Sacha Tavolieri (@sachatavolieri) August 11, 2025
View Tweet
However, Chelsea are hoping to sign Simons once a few more sales had been made, and initially appeared to have a free run at the £60m Dutchman, with few serious competitors for his signature.
Manchester City coming to the negotiating table – however – is not ideal, given the pulling power of a generational manager in Pep Guardiola and the club’s financial strength.
Who Chelsea still hope to sell before transfer deadline day
As aforesaid, sales are the current priority for Chelsea, and four players are expected to depart before the transfer window closes.
TBR Football understand Chelsea hope to sell Christopher Nkunku, Axel Disasi, Renato Veiga and Ben Chilwell in the coming weeks, having already managed to raise around £100m from the departures of Armando Broja, Lesley Ugochukwu, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Joao Felix.
The quicker Chelsea can offload these fringe players, the sooner they can look to add to the arrivals of talents such as Joao Pedro and Jamie Gittens.