Savinho missed a Manchester City training session this week, and the timing — right in the middle of serious Tottenham interest — made the obvious conclusion tempting. Enzo Maresca was having none of it.
"He was not part of the session, he was a little bit ill," the City manager said ahead of Sunday's Community Shield against Arsenal. "We'll see today, the session is in the afternoon, so we'll see how he is and we'll decide."
That's a pretty clean explanation. But the broader situation around the 22-year-old Brazilian is not so simple.
Why Spurs need this deal done
Tottenham's attacking options right now are genuinely threadbare. Mohamed Kudus is still working his way back from injury. Dejan Kulusevski has only just returned to training after more than a year out. Xavi Simons and Wilson Odobert are both sidelined until at least the turn of the year with ACL injuries. During preseason, Roberto De Zerbi leaned on France U21 international Mathys Tel, teenager Mikey Moore, and academy prospect Luca Williams-Barnett. Manor Solomon, who might have provided some cover, just moved to West Ham for £5 million.
That's not a squad. That's a skeleton.
De Zerbi has said he wants two or three attacking additions before the window closes on September 1, and Savinho is reportedly at the top of that list. City's asking price sits somewhere between £65 million and £85 million — not cheap, but not unreasonable for a winger in his early twenties with genuine Premier League-ready quality. The player is said to be keen on the move.
City need a replacement first
The hold-up isn't Tottenham's willingness to pay. It's City's need to find a replacement before they sanction the exit. With Pep Guardiola's squad already thinner in certain areas than it looks on paper, selling without a plan B isn't something the club will rush. Savinho's availability for the Community Shield may be irrelevant in the grand scheme — what matters is whether City can identify a successor fast enough to move this deal forward before the window slams shut.
Cody Gakpo and Omar Marmoush are also reportedly on De Zerbi's radar, which suggests Spurs are working multiple angles simultaneously. But Savinho appears to be the priority. If City can't find their replacement in time, Tottenham's attacking crisis drags on into the season opener — and that's a real problem for their early-window odds.
Maresca's answer was measured and fair. But nobody at the Tottenham end of this story is taking it as a closed door.
