Inside Tottenham’s £85m Savio Gamble: Debut Hero’s Rise and Roberto De Zerbi’s Plan to Unlock Him

If there was a neat way to quieten the doubts, this was it. Questions over whether an £85million forward scores often enough? Find the net 11 minutes after stepping onto the pitch. Concerns about his creativity? Set up a goal three minutes later. For a debut cameo, Savio could hardly have scripted a better introduction — and Roberto De Zerbi could hardly have asked for more.

The Tottenham Hotspur manager had spent the week talking up his new signing’s qualities. “Savio is a player who brings energy, imagination and quality in wide positions,” De Zerbi said. “He has the courage to attack defenders and the ability to change a game with his creativity.”

Even so, some Spurs supporters could be forgiven for pausing amid the buzz of a huge double swoop for the Manchester City pair, with Omar Marmoush also part of the excitement. After all, two goals in 53 Premier League appearances did not exactly scream £85million certainty, nor did it automatically look like the kind of return that would prevent Tottenham from flirting with another 17th-place finish.

Yet across 19 lively minutes, Savio offered Tottenham fans something they have not felt often enough lately: genuine anticipation. His brief display carried clear signs of why De Zerbi pushed for him. The Italian wants his wingers to hold width and stay advanced, stretching the pitch so that once Spurs’ defenders draw out and beat the press, the wide players can trap opponents deep and attack isolated full-backs.

That is precisely the zone where Savio looks most dangerous. There are weaknesses in his game — and they remain part of the wider conversation — but in one-v-one situations he can be electric. His debut goal against Charlton came straight from that template: ball under control, Nathan Asiimwe in front of him, a burst forward, a sharp cut inside and then a composed finish.

The underlying numbers help explain the fascination. Since making his Premier League debut at the start of the 2024-25 campaign, among forwards with at least 1,500 minutes played, only Manchester City team-mate Jeremy Doku, with 5.2 successful dribbles per 90 minutes, and Adama Traore, on 2.5, have beaten opponents more often than Savio’s 2.4. It is a similar story with progressive carries — dribbles that move the ball at least five metres towards goal — where only Doku’s 20.6 per 90 ranks above Savio’s 13.9. Against Charlton, Tottenham’s newest crowd-pleaser produced four of them.

Savio’s dribble map below shows just how frequently he takes on his man (red dots on the graphic below are failed dribbles, blue are completed). It also shows his versatility, able to play on both flanks. For City, he often cut inside when starting on the right. He’s only 22, too, remember. There is plenty of room for improvement.

After this brightest of beginnings, it will be down to whether he can sustain it. Savio shone in his early days at City, providing three assists in his opening four games and set up a hat-trick of goals against West Ham in January 2025. He frequently beat his man out wide and got his cross into the box or even carried the ball centrally before slipping in Erling Haaland through the middle.

In his first season, his eight assists from open play was bettered by only five players: Mohamed Salah (18), Jacob Murphy (11), Morgan Rogers (ten), Antonee Robinson (ten) and Son Heung-min (nine).

His influence faded last season, though, starting just seven league games in Pep Guardiola’s final campaign, scoring just once and setting up only one goal.

Spurs need goals. They scored just 48 in the Premier League last season, fewer than Leeds and the same as Nottingham Forest. Eighteen of them came from corners, making up nearly 40 per cent of all their goals, by far the highest ratio in the division. They need some magic in open play. De Zerbi hopes Savio can keep providing it.

That ability to find the net, more than anything, is what has let Savio down in the past. His record of two goals in 28 league starts has been the biggest stick with which critics are beating him.

Since his debut, that’s the same number of goals – from nine more starts – as Traore. He’s a dribbling machine, too, but won’t cost you £85million. In that time, Harry Wilson scored 16 goals and provided eight assists for Fulham and joined Leeds this summer on a free transfer.

It’s not as though Savio didn’t get the chances either. From the opportunities he had, his Expected Goals (xG) figure was more than seven. Since his debut in the Premier League, he’s among the top five for largest underperformance of xG.

If you thought that was bad, his two goals came from 75 shots. Of all forwards to play 1,500 minutes in the league since Savio’s shot conversion was the lowest of them all at just 2.67 per cent. Hardly what you want for £85million.

Viktor Gyokeres, Junior Kroupi, Nick Woltemade, Igor Thiago and Chris Wood are all above 25 per cent. Haaland is around 20 per cent. Unfortunately for De Zerbi, another Spurs winger in Wilson Odobert ranked fourth-worst (and last season’s loanee Randal Kolo Muani was two spots behind).

Against Charlton, he had two shots and both of them went in, the second via a slight deflection off Ben Davies. It was the perfect start. But it was still just that. A start. For £85million, it needs to continue.