Savinho to Tottenham: How Manchester City Turned Their Academy Into a £250m Cash Machine
Chelsea have paid £117m for Morgan Rogers. Manchester City sold him to Middlesbrough in February 2024 for an initial £8m.
That gap — £109m between what City banked and what Chelsea ultimately spent — captures something about the modern football economy that few clubs have mastered as ruthlessly as the Premier League champions. Over the past five years, City have recouped more than £250m from selling young players, according to BBC Sport.
The latest departure from that production line is Savinho, the 22-year-old Brazilian winger, who has left the Etihad Stadium to take what City described as "the next step in his career." Tottenham agreed an £85m deal to sign him, according to Sky Sports, with an initial £75m fee plus £10m in potential bonuses. The Athletic reported that £5m of those bonuses are considered highly achievable. Reuters, citing British media, also reported the £75m agreement on 21 August.
The deal did not come out of nowhere. The Athletic had reported a year earlier, in August 2025, that Tottenham and City had discussed a package worth around €50m (£43.3m). The price has climbed considerably since those initial conversations.
Savinho arrived at City with genuine pedigree. Pep Guardiola praised the winger for giving the team "the spark" they had been missing after a 3-1 Champions League win over Club Brugge in January 2025, saying Savinho would "help us like all the season." He made his home debut against Ipswich Town in August 2024, the same matchday squad that welcomed Ilkay Gundogan back to the club.
Tottenham's new head coach Roberto De Zerbi confirmed the transfer was close in his pre-match press conference before the Brentford fixture. "Savinho is obviously very close," De Zerbi said, as published on Tottenham's official website. "We have not finished yet in the transfer market."
Savinho is far from the only City-developed talent to move on to rival Premier League sides. Cole Palmer was sold for £40m in 2023 and has since become one of the division's standout attackers at Chelsea. Douglas Luiz, Liam Delap and Oscar Bobb round out a list of players who came through City's system before being sold on, all documented by BBC Sport.
What makes this model so effective is the dual benefit. City develop players in one of the best academies and loan networks in world football, then sell at peak market value — often to direct rivals who pay premium prices for ready-made talent. The £250m figure does not even include the Savinho sale, which would push the total past £335m.
For Tottenham fans, Savinho brings the kind of directness De Zerbi's system demands — pace, dribbling, and the willingness to take defenders on. Guardiola himself signed more traditional wide players like Savinho and Jeremy Doku after City's 2023 treble, a tactical shift noted on Tottenham's official site. Now Spurs get to benefit from that same instinct.
