Savinho is about to leave Manchester City for Tottenham, and City are already shopping for his replacement in Brazil. Footmercato’s Santi Aouna reported on 20 August that sporting director Hugo Viana and the club have an eye on Allan, a 22-year-old left-footed right winger at Palmeiras.
Allan’s contract with Palmeiras runs to December 2029. Nobody knows what City would pay. What is known is that the two clubs get on. City signed centre-back Vitor Reis from Palmeiras in a big-money deal, and went to the same club for Gabriel Jesus in the summer of 2016.
The timing is tight. The new Premier League season was days away at the time of writing and the transfer window had about two weeks left. Enzo Maresca is in the middle of a rebuild across several parts of the squad.
Who has gone
The exits are big. Bernardo Silva went to Real Madrid, Rodri to Barcelona, and Tijjani Reijnders to Al Qadsiah. Elliot Anderson came in from Nottingham Forest for £116m during the World Cup, a club record and Maresca’s first signing.
Centre midfield is still the priority. City are linked with Roma’s Manu Kone, Palace’s Adam Wharton, Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez and, most strongly, Lille’s Ayyoub Bouaddi. But the right wing is now just as pressing.
A thin list of wingers
City have looked at few wide players this summer, possibly because of the fees other clubs are paying for them. They have been linked with Paris Saint-Germain’s Ibrahim Mbaye, and with Yan Diomande, the former RB Leipzig player now at Real Madrid, though salary demands reportedly put City off.
Chelsea’s Pedro Neto keeps coming up, helped by his obvious link to Maresca. There is no intention of paying Chelsea’s £100m valuation of the Portugal international.
