Savinho sets Man City transfer record – but the bigger story is even more remarkable

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Robin Bairner | Chief Editor

Accredited football journalist and editor covering the game since 2006

Manchester City will set a new club record sale when Savinho completes his transfer to Tottenham.

A deal worth a total of €99 million (£85m) has been agreed with the London club for the Brazilian winger, David Ornstein reports. Of that figure €87.5m (£75m) is an upfront fee, with the remaining €11.7m (£10m) set as bonus payments, half of which are considered straightforward to attain.

It means that three of Manchester City’s four biggest sales ever have been agreed in the space of a week, with Savinho’s move setting a new benchmark and breaking a record that has stood for the last two years.

Current ETV

Savinho

F (L), M (RL)

Man City

Savinho

F (L), M (RL)

Man City

€44.9M

ETV Range

€40.4M - €49.4M

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Savinho smashes City transfer record

Even without bonus payments, the initial downpayment of €87.5m will be comfortably the biggest fee that Manchester City have received for a player. If all the bonuses are hit in the deal, the fee would be a third bigger than any other sale in the history of the club.

The previous mark was set by Julian Alvarez when he left for Atletico Madrid for €75m in 2024.

That deal for the Argentine, though, was very much an outlier in City’s history. Before this summer, it was the only sale they had conducted at a price of more than €60m.

Now, three of the four most expensive departures in the club’s history have been completed in a matter of days. Tijjani Reijnders and Rodri left the club within 24 hours of each other, joining Saudi Pro League side Al Qadsiah (€61m) and Barcelona (€60m) respectively.

And another huge deal could follow, with Spurs locked in negotiations with the Etihad side over Omar Marmoush.

City sales step up a notch

This mini-exodus is not without some precedent in Manchester. Back in 2022, the Cityzens also saw three players depart in what were big moves at the time. These did not come at once, but over the space of months, with Ferran Torres, Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling all leaving for over €50m.

During this time, Oleksandr Zinchenko also departed for Arsenal in a €35m deal.

But the speed and scale of the 2026 sales are on another level. In a matter of days, City have completed three €60m deals, having only done so once previously in their history.

Pep Guardiola’s departure in the summer heralded the end of an era at City, and while this was always likely to prompt some change in personnel, the sudden rush of deals that the club has been conducting has been staggering.

But while conducting a promising rebuild, City have also extracted good value from players who were not central to Maresca’s version of the team. Two squad players have been sold for a combined price of €150m while an all-time great in Rodri has been allowed to go home for a good price after strong service to the club.