Fabrizio Romano refutes Manchester City interest in potential Savinho replacement | OneFootball

Transfer insider Fabrizio Romano has provided clarification around Manchester City’s reported interest in a possible replacement for Savinho, who has been linked with Tottenham this week.

Savinho has attracted interest from Tottenham as the newly-crowned UEFA Europa League winners find a suitable replacement for departed club captain Son Heung-Min, who has joined Los Angeles FC this summer.

Manchester City maintain that they do not wish to sell Savinho and consider the 21-year-old attacker part of their plans for the 2025-26 campaign, with the Brazil international under a long-term contract at the Etihad Stadium having only joined from Troyes in 2024.

However, sources close to the Etihad Stadium have pointed out this week that City value Savinho north of £50 million and will only consider a proposal for the winger should he inform club officials of a desire to leave the Blues.

It will be interesting to see if Pep Guardiola selects the Brazilian to face Wolves this weekend as Manchester City kick off their 2025-26 Premier League campaign with a tricky test at the Molineux Stadium.

Rayan Cherki, Tijjani Reijnders and former Wolves man Rayan Ait-Nouri are all in line to make their full Manchester City debuts on Saturday evening, with Guardiola scheduled to face the press to preview the game on Friday.

It remains unknown to what extent Savinho’s head has been turned by interest from Tottenham, with the young forward understood to be unsure of his future at Manchester City amidst a period of transition at the Etihad Stadium following the appointment of Hugo Viana as director of football earlier this summer.

Tottenham have replaced Europa League winning manager Ange Postecoglou with Thomas Frank and after James Maddison suffered an ACL injury in pre-season, the north Londoners are looking to bolster their attacking options before the transfer window closes on September 1.

Manchester City were this week credited with an interest in AS Monaco attacking midfielder Maghnes Akliouche by Florian Plettenberg of Sky Germany, who stated that the Blues are keeping tabs on the French-Algerian, who has also attracted interest from Bayer Leverkusen following the high-profile departure of Florian Wirtz to Liverpool.

However, transfer insider Fabrizio Romano has since clarified that Manchester City are not weighing up a move for Akliouche – and will prioritise the pursuit of Real Madrid forward Rodrygo should Savinho leave the club before the window closes.

Guardiola is believed to be a huge fan of Rodrygo, who scored two late goals to help knock Manchester City out of the UEFA Champions League semi-final in 2022. Real Madrid are understood to value the wantaway 24-year-old in the region of €100 million.

Elsewhere, Manchester City have agreed personal terms with Gianluigi Donnarumma as they await a bid from Galatasaray for Ederson, who wants a new challenge after eight seasons in England and has given the go-ahead to move to Turkey this summer.