Brazilian forward Savinho has now claimed that Arsenal made Clube Atletico Mineiro an offer before he agreed to join ES Troyes AC in the summer transfer market in 2022.
Savinho has been speaking with Sport, which notes he joined Troyes in July 2022 for €6.5m (£5.5m). It saw him agree to join a club belonging to the City Football Group that also owns Manchester City. But he is still yet to play a single game for ESTAC, who now play in Ligue 2.
The City Football Group brought Savinho to Europe through Troyes but swiftly sent him out on loan last summer. PSV Eindhoven agreed to take the 19-year-old to the Eredivisie for the season. While Girona now have the winger on their books in La Liga for the 2023/24 season.
Savinho rejected Arsenal to secure his transfer to Troyes
Savinho convinced the City Football Group to secure his transfer having enjoyed a promising start to his senior career with Atletico Mineiro. He emerged from the Belo Horizonte natives’ academy for his first-team debut in September 2020 while just 16 years and five months old.
The following two years returned 35 appearances across all competitions, in which Savinho scored twice. But his move to Eindhoven only saw Savinho feature eight times for PSV. The Sao Mateus native did manage to offer two assists through his mere 150 minutes of action.
Life at Girona has proven more fruitful so far, though, as Savinho has scored once and laid on two assists. He has further started in all five of his outings in La Liga for 388 minutes so far. The Brazilian talent scored and assisted at Granada during his most recent appearance.
Savinho has nailed down the left-wing position at Girona, another club in the City Football Group family. But the winger could prove to be a promising talent that slipped through the fingers of Manchester City’s rivals. Savinho claims that Arsenal wanted his transfer in 2022.
“Yes,” Savinho stated when Sport asked if he had any other offers to leave Atletico Mineiro. “Arsenal wanted me and also the Brazilian [club], Bragantino.
“I knew that Troyes was the City Group and I thought that by working [there] I could one day reach Manchester City. Of course, I will have to do very well here in Girona.”
Savinho could have become a bargain like Martinelli
Had Arsenal edged the City Football Group to Savinho’s transfer, he may have proven to be a bargain like Gabriel Martinelli has. The Gunners paid just £6m to sign the 22-year-old in July 2019 from Ituano. It similarly marked the forward’s first transfer away from his native Brazil.
Martinelli has since developed into one of Mikel Arteta’s most important players at Emirates Stadium. He is also now a seven-cap senior Brazil forward and helped his nation to win gold at the 2020 Olympics. While Martinelli has 33 goals and 21 assists in 136 outings for Arsenal.
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