From the farmyard to the Premier League: This is Sávio's story

New signing Sávio Moreira de Oliveira belongs firmly in that category and is the latest exciting attacker to add to a long line of dazzling dribblers who want to bring joy to our supporters.

Sealing a move from Manchester City on Tuesday, the 22-year-old is fast, skilful, and can operate on either flank which adds a new dimension to Roberto De Zerbi’s forward options.

The Brazil international arrives at Tottenham having started out in his homeland before arriving in Europe for clubs in France, Holland, Spain and most recently two Premier League seasons under his belt in England.

Reverting back to his original Sávio name having adopted ‘Savinho’ with the Cityzens – honouring the nickname given to him by the national team on his first senior call-up – it feels fitting heading into a new chapter at Spurs…

Farmyard to football

Born in Sao Mateus near the Brazilian east coast, Sávio’s story starts in the quiet and rural surroundings of his family’s cow farm, where he lived throughout his childhood years.

"At home we have a cow farm and I always lived there,” he told Manchester City back in 2024. “We make milk and also put on rodeo shows. It’s very nice. I had always lived on the farm, enjoying a very quiet life."

Growing up he learned to ride horses, milk cows and plant vegetables on his grandparents’ farm – remaining his favourite holiday destination to this day – yet as much as he loved the daily routine of farm and beach life, his early promise with a football meant he was destined for this career path.

At five years old, one of his first coaches predicted he’ll go on to be a footballer and it wasn’t long before he dazzled against Atletico Mineiro’s Under-17s. Aged 11.

Firmly on the three-time Brazilian Serie A champion’s radar from that moment, three years later the left-footed winger made the decision to leave the farm and move to the club situated in Brazil’s fifth largest city an 11-hour drive from his family home at 14 years old.

His mother, Dona Nilma, joined her son in Belo Horizonte and lived with him until he was 18 where he had blossomed into Galo’s (meaning Rooster) hottest prospects.

After making his senior debut in the top flight at 16 – the youngest to play for the club in the Brazilian league – he then went on to win the domestic cup double in 2021 (Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A and Copa do Brasil) and made more history a month on from his 18th birthday by becoming their youngest goalscorer when he netted in a 3-1 win over Ecuadorian side Independiente in the Copa Libertadores in May, 2022. 

By the end of the 2021/22 campaign, his meteoric rise in the black and white stripes of Atletico Mineiro was turning heads in Europe and convinced French side Troyes – part of the City Football Group – to swoop for the promising attacker.

Junior Chavare, part of the cohort at his former Brazilian club credited with discovering Sávio’s talent, said: "He is professional, with an excellent mind. He has everything it takes to succeed abroad, to play in the most important clubs in the world and to be a star of South America."

Representing the Farmers

By the time he left South America, the then 18-year-old’s talents were obvious but needed to gain senior level experience having played less than 1,000 minutes for Galo over his two years in the first team environment.

Direct and strong in one-versus-one situations, he moved to Troyes but never featured for the French side after being immediately loaned to PSV Eindhoven in 2022/23.

From his family’s farm to a side known as the Farmers – Boeren in Dutch - Sávio was a long way from home but met a brother in teammate Xavi Simons who is one year his senior and had just signed from Paris Saint-Germain that summer.

The winger made his debut as a late substitute in a 4-1 win over Emmen in the Eredivisie opener and by the end of August had two league assists in three appearances – both for Xavi.

Splitting his time between the Under-21s and first team in the first few months, three further substitute appearances followed in the Dutch top flight and in Europe where he featured twice in the Europa League group stages before an early injury stalled his progression.

Xavi, meanwhile, was enjoying a superb spell back in his homeland and would go on to register 19 league goals, as well as nine assists, to finish as the league’s joint-top scorer.

With reduced minutes following his return close to the end of the season, the winger made three matchday squads without making an appearance but collected another winners’ medal as Xavi inspired PSV to a domestic cup double after beating Ajax in the KNVB Cup to go with their Johan Cruyff Shield – with Sávio an unused substitute in both.

Lighting up La Liga

Representing Brazil from Under-16 to Under-20 level prior to his national team debut, Sávio missed the last few games of the Dutch league season due to his participation in the Under-20 World Cup in Argentina that Spring.

Back in South America, the winger produced one goal and three assists in the group stage to help his nation through to the knockouts where they were eliminated 3-2 in extra-time by Israel in the quarter-finals.

Whilst it was a disappointing outcome for his nation, the then 19-year-old had stood out and Spanish La Liga side Girona – another City Football Group club – decided he was worth bringing to Catalonia via a loan spell.

Despite his lack of senior football under his belt and a frustrating spell at PSV due to injury, Sávio hit the ground running in Spain and imposed himself from the first moment he arrived.

After watching him train for the first time in pre-season, his then manager, Michel, phoned the sporting director praising the attacking acquisition and was confident in his new player to propel them to a strong league finish that term. How right he would be.

In 2023/24, the Brazilian was one of the stars of a Girona side that fought for the La Liga title to the very end and eventually finished third behind only Real Madrid and Barcelona for their best league finish in the club’s 93-year history.

A lot of that was down to Sávio’s contribution as he ended with 19 goal involvements - nine goals and 10 assists – in his 37 league appearances, starting 35 of those, and topped the charts for the most successful take ons in the division (100).

Michel even said at the time: "I know this is a big statement, but I hadn't seen anyone so effective in one-on-one situations since Vinicius Jr emerged."

In the space of a year, the winger had put his struggles firmly behind him and was fulfilling his potential as a breakout star in Spain. Performances that also had earned a Brazil debut against England at Wembley in March, 2024 and a call-up to the 2024 Copa America squad where he opened his account in a 4-1 win over Paraguay in the United States three months later.

Premier League bound

Over the summer, champions Manchester City under former boss Pep Guardiola made the attacker their first signing of the transfer window from sister club Troyes.

Making his debut as a second-half substitute in their Community Shield victory over local rivals Manchester United on penalties - scoring the fourth spot-kick as it ended 8-7 - at Wembley, he started on Premier League debut in an opening day 2-0 win at Chelsea before providing two assists in a 4-1 win over Ipswich Town in his first outing at Etihad Stadium.

With an ability to create chances from tight spaces and accelerate past defenders on either side, he ended with 10 assists and one goal across his 29 league appearances - starting 19 – and finished in top 10 creators in the division in his maiden season in England.

Playing 48 times in all competitions that term, he also featured nine times in his first taste of the Champions League, in both domestic cups - assisting in a 2-1 loss at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the Carabao Cup fourth round and starting City’s FA Cup final defeat to Crystal Palace – and the FIFA Club World Cup at the end of the campaign.

"He is a player with incredible potential," said Guardiola during the 2025 Club World Cup. "We can’t forget he is so young. He needs to be more decisive in the final third in (certain) aspects.

"The moment he will make this step — in a natural way it will come because he has incredible individual quality — he will become an extraordinary player. He can play on both sides, right or left, is so fast, and he understands tactically the movements he has to do."

Finishing is one area where Savio is yet to reach his full potential since arriving in England. Across his 53 top-flight games, the explosive winger has two goals and 12 assists to his name. Netting his one and only league goal of last term in a 3-0 win over Palace in May, 2026.

Adding 36 matches to his tally – 24 in the Premier League – he did score in both the Carabao Cup third round and quarter-final as City finished runners-up to Arsenal and netted in a 3-1 win over Newcastle in the FA Cup round of 16 on his way to collecting a winners’ medal after a 1-0 success over Chelsea.

Sávio the Spur

Now comes Sávio at Tottenham. A fresh start and a new chapter with something still to prove. 

If his goalscoring debut is anything to go by, we're in for an exciting ride as his impact off the bench in our 5-1 win over Charlton Athletic in the Carabao Cup second round on Wednesday night was simply outstanding. His first goal, cutting in from the right flank and skipping past defenders for fun before firing it back across into the bottom corner, was a thing of beauty. And by his celebration you could see what it meant to him.

Our new number 17 then saw his goal-bound attempt from inside the penalty area deflected in off Ben Davies which went down as an assist three minutes later.

A dream cameo and hopefully a real confidence builder heading into the rest of the campaign. Our Head Coach spoke openly about Sávio's world class qualities on the ball but did challenge our new signing to becoming one of the best in the world by adding consistent goals to his game.

“To be complete, he has to score," Roberto said in Wednesday's press conference ahead of Charlton. "If you analyse the other best wingers in the world, many of them score 10-15 goals per season. He has the qualities."

He's responded in the perfect way. This may just be the spark our new man and our attack has been waiting for.