Savinho's Illness Complicates Tottenham's Pursuit of Manchester City Winger

Enzo Maresca’s plans for his first piece of Manchester City silverware have hit an untimely snag.

Savinho, the 22-year-old winger who has lit up pre-season, missed City’s latest training session ahead of the Community Shield showdown with Arsenal at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff. According to The Athletic’s Sam Lee, the Brazilian sat out due to illness, leaving a late question mark over his involvement in Sunday’s curtain-raiser.

It’s an unwelcome twist for Maresca as he fine-tunes his options for the new campaign. While Savinho stayed away, several of City’s heavy hitters were out on the grass at the City Football Academy. Jack Grealish trained as he pushes to make his first competitive appearance for the club in over a year after persistent injury problems.

He was not alone. Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku and January signing Marc Guehi all took part, each staking their claim for a starting berth against Mikel Arteta’s side. The competition for places is fierce; the timing of Savinho’s absence only sharpens the intrigue.

Because the winger’s name is not just echoing around Manchester. It is ringing loudly in north London.

Roberto De Zerbi is closing in on his primary attacking target, with Tottenham understood to be nearing a full agreement for the £60 million-rated forward. Spurs have zeroed in on Savinho as the final piece of an ambitious rebuild, and his illness-enforced absence from City training arrives right as negotiations heat up.

Tottenham’s intent this summer has been impossible to ignore. After back-to-back 17th-place Premier League finishes, the club has ripped up the script and gone for a reset. The first half of their window was all about shoring up the back line: Martin Dubravka, Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi and Jan Paul van Hecke were brought in to stiffen a defence that had creaked for too long.

Then came the statement in midfield. Spurs dropped a combined £185 million on Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes, a bold double move designed to transform the heart of the team almost overnight. It signalled a club no longer content to drift near the bottom, but one determined to punch its way back toward the top end of the table.

Now the spotlight is on the final third. And this is where Savinho comes in.

To push that deal over the line, Tottenham are preparing to cash in on some big names. Cristian Romero is close to joining Atletico Madrid, while full-back Djed Spence is set for a move to Inter. Those exits are expected to free up the financial space needed to mount a serious bid and test City’s resolve.

That, of course, is where the complication lies. Selling a highly rated 22-year-old attacker to a domestic rival is never a straightforward call, and City’s hierarchy are unlikely to wave him through the door without a clear replacement plan in place. Savinho’s absence from training may be down to illness, but it arrives at a moment when every detail around him is being scrutinised.

If City dig in or the numbers spiral, Tottenham have already drawn up a Plan B.

Cody Gakpo is high on their list of alternatives. The Liverpool forward is admired at Hotspur Way for his versatility and end product, but prising him away from Anfield would be a far more complex operation. Journalist Ben Jacobs has reported that Liverpool are reluctant to sanction a sale unless they secure multiple attacking reinforcements first, a stance that makes any move for the former PSV man tricky in the current market.

Time is not on anyone’s side. The transfer deadline is closing in, and Tottenham have one major task left on their summer checklist: land a top-tier attacker to complete De Zerbi’s rebuild.

Whether that means Savinho stepping out at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, or Spurs turning their attention fully to Gakpo or another elite option, will define the final act of their window — and could reshape the balance of power near the top of the Premier League for the season ahead.