Savinho came to Manchester City in the summer as a major talent with Pep Guardiola and the fans expecting big things from him after his stunning season for Girona, and he finally started to deliver against Leicester.
Things have been a long time coming in his new job. The skilful Brazilian struggled with lacklustre performances from the whole team and struggled in the final third of the pitch.
On Sunday against Leicester, however, he was the one who stepped up. He scored his first league goal since his summer transfer and helped the Citizens to an important win. Did he kickstart his and his team’s season?
In Catalonia, Savinho became a celebrity in just one season. At 19, he netted nine league goals, added 10 assists and helped Girona to a sensational third-place finish in La Liga.
Coach Michels more than once referred to him during his surprise campaign as the greatest talent to run on Spanish turf. He was even happy to compare him to the league’s brightest stars.
“I know it’s presumptuous to say it, but in one-on-one situations, only Vinicius Junior is his equal,” he once declared.
“If you take Jude Bellingham out of the comparison, who everyone has known for a long time, Savinho is the best young player in the league,” he said on another occasion.
Meanwhile, the skilful Brazilian arrived at Girona after a year of misery at PSV Eindhoven. He was on loan in the Netherlands from French side Troyes and played just six league games all season. He didn’t score a goal and spent most of his time in the youth teams.
He joined Troyes, who like Manchester City and Girona are part of the City Football Group of teams, in the summer of 2022 from Mineiro in Brazil. Ironically, however, he never once made an appearance in the blue jersey of the French outfit.
After a failed stint at Eindhoven came a successful loan spell at Girona, followed by a move to the top of the CFG pyramid – Manchester City.Savinho is the first ever footballer to go through this system of education and his example showed how beneficial cooperation is for all members of the group.
Troyes have made €19 million from the Brazilian youngster, Girona are enjoying Champions League battles thanks to him and Manchester City have acquired one of the world’s greatest talents for a fraction of the market value.
For a long time, however, Savinho seemed to have frozen his feet in the cold north of England. The lightness had gone out of his movement and he was slowly slipping through the team hierarchy as the Citizens’ crisis progressed.
But the last game of the calendar year showed what the still only 20-year-old Brazilian is capable of. Just like Girona last year, Savinho took the floundering English giants on his back with a goal and an assist to help them to a 2-0 win over Leicester.
Was Sunday’s game just a fluke, or did Savinho show that he can be a leader even for a team like Manchester City? He certainly has the determination to be one.
“Don’t go easy on him. From a young age, he enjoyed working at his grandmother’s farm instead of taking expensive holidays,” his mother recalled of the young footballer’s childhood.
The coming months will show if his training from the family farm will be enough.