Savinho is a Tottenham player in every sense except the announcement. The fee is £75 million up front with £10 million in add-ons, and because £5 million of those bonuses are effectively guaranteed, Manchester City bank a minimum of £80 million and a maximum of £85 million.
That makes it the largest fee City have ever received for a player, past the £82 million Atlético Madrid paid for Julián Álvarez in 2024. For a club that has spent most of the last decade as football's buyer, a record sale is a notable thing in itself.
The Brazilian completed his medical in London on Friday afternoon. Neither club has confirmed anything, which at this stage is paperwork rather than doubt.
For Tottenham it takes a remarkable summer past £300 million. Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes and Jan Paul van Hecke arrived for fees, Marcos Senesi, Andy Robertson and Martin Dúbravka on free transfers, and Savinho is the most expensive of the lot by a distance.
He is 22 and plays on either flank, and City paid a fee in the same region to bring him in from Girona in 2024. Selling him now, at a profit, is a decision about the rebuild rather than about him: Enzo Maresca has taken charge of two competitive matches, lost the Community Shield 3-0 and needed a substitute to save his first league game, and City have responded by cashing in one of the players who can beat a full back on his own.
Omar Marmoush is expected to follow him to north London.