Tottenham's Winger Hunt: Savinho Leads the Charge
Tottenham’s winger hunt is coming into sharp focus, and the picture is clear: Savinho first, Cody Gakpo next, Pedro Neto a distant third.
Roberto De Zerbi has spent most of the summer reshaping the spine of his new side. Midfield sorted. Defence reinforced. The glaring gap now sits out wide, where he wants fresh legs, fresh ideas and, crucially, goals.
Savinho is the one Spurs have chosen to hang this part of the rebuild on. Tottenham are set to pay a total of £85million to Manchester City for the Brazilian, a fee that underlines how heavily they are backing his potential. He has been at the top of their attacking shortlist for weeks, and that hasn’t changed.
Transfer insider Pete O’Rourke laid out the current order of preference for Spurs’ wide options in conversation with Football Insider.
“Savinho is their number one target for that wide attacking position, he is the priority and they’re working hard to reach an agreement with Man City over that one,” he said.
The club are pushing to get that deal over the line, and everything else hangs off it. Once Savinho is in, the rest of the plan snaps into place.
Behind him sits Cody Gakpo. The Dutchman is described as “high on that list” by O’Rourke, a player Spurs admire and would move for if the opportunity and price aligned. At this stage, both Savinho and Gakpo are viewed as more attainable and better-value options than Pedro Neto.
“Pedro Neto is on Tottenham’s list, maybe not at the top of it right now,” O’Rourke added, making it clear where the Chelsea winger stands in the pecking order.
Chelsea dig in over Neto
Any club trying to prise Neto away from Stamford Bridge faces a brutal starting point. TEAMtalk understands Chelsea value the Portugal international at around £100million, and they are not inclined to budge.
His camp are open to exploring a transfer. The player’s representatives would listen to proposals, including from Spurs. Chelsea, though, want to be paid in full for one of their key attacking pieces.
Xabi Alonso, preparing for his first full season in charge, is under no pressure to cash in. On the contrary, he is happy to keep Neto as part of his squad and sees him as an important weapon going into the campaign.
The interest is not limited to north London. Manchester City are keeping tabs on the situation, while Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal have already tested the water. Their opening move — a £60million approach — was swiftly rejected, well short of Chelsea’s valuation and fully in line with the club’s hard-line stance.
That sets the scene for Tottenham’s dilemma. After committing £85million to Savinho, the prospect of immediately dropping another £100million on Neto, a player who most regularly operates in the same wide role, feels remote. The numbers simply stack up against it.
Spurs may admire Neto. They may even keep him on a long-term radar. But with Savinho earmarked as the flagship signing and Gakpo sitting above Neto on the current list, Chelsea’s £100million price tag looks like a door being firmly, deliberately held shut.
