Flying Girona winger Savio set to seal dream move to Man City
Manchester City are close to completing a deal to sign flying winger Savio who is currently playing a starring role on loan at La Liga surprise packages Girona.
The Brazilian joined Girona last summer helping the team surge up the table, threatening to beat Spanish behemoths Real Madrid and Barcelona to the league title.
They currently sit second in the table, two points behind leaders Real Madrid and six ahead of Barcelona in third. Savio has played 23 games this season, scoring five goals and supplying five assists.
The 19-year-old is currently on loan at Girona from French side Troyes, although he has yet to play a game for the Ligue 2 team. Both clubs are part-owned by City Football Group, the holding company that owns Manchester City and numerous other clubs around the world.
And according to football transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Savio is set to join his parent club this summer after helping Girona’s historic bid to beat Real and Barcelona to the La Liga title.
Savio has already made clear his ambition to join Pep Guardiola’s side at some point. “I have the goal of playing for City, yes,” he told Premier League Brasil.
“When I was hired my goal was always to get to City and I’m working towards that. But I have to keep my focus on Girona and do things well to get there. If one day I arrive at City, you can be sure that I did things well at Girona, as I am doing.”
Finding his way into City’s star-studded starting XI, though, will be a huge challenge as Guardiola already has the likes of Jermey Doku, Jack Grealish and Phil Foden who can play in Savio’s preferred left-wing position.
But the teenager has also played down the right and at No 10 on occasions and his versatility will appeal to Guardiola.
Savio had already caught the eye of Europe’s big clubs as a teenager when he broke into the first-team of Brazilian outfit Club Atletico Mineiro, making his professional debut aged just 16.
He went on to make 29 appearances for Atletico before they reached an agreement with CFC for a deal worth €6.5 million, with another €6 million in variables in June 2022.
Less than a month later, he joined Dutch side PSV Eindhoven on a season-long loan where he made eight first-team appearances but was mostly playing for the reserves.
A year later, Savio was heading to Spain and Girona, managed by Michel, who has helped turn the team into a La Liga force this campaign.
“I know they are big words, but since the emergence of Vinicius I don’t think I have seen a one-on-one talent as destabilising as him,” the coach said of Savio to Cadena SER.