Manchester City Plotting Move for ‘Special’ Savinho Replacement

Fabrizio Romano has revealed that Manchester City are considering a move for Real Madrid star Rodrygo as Pep Guardiola looks to reinforce his attacking ranks in the final weeks of the summer transfer window. The Cityzens have already made a number of high-profile signings with Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki, amongst others, moving to the Etihad Stadium earlier in the window.

City Interested In Blockbuster Deal for Rodrygo

Is The Transfer Realistic?

Romano highlighted the fact that Guardiola has been a fan of the Brazilian attacker for a long time, and that the Cityzens’ interest in Rodrygo has not been sparked by the impending departures of Jack Grealish, Savinho and James McAtee. That being said, the trio’s exit may be important as it could give the Cityzens enough financial leeway to secure a deal for the 24-year-old, especially with McAtee’s homegrown status.

The Italian journalist believes that it could cost £86.5 million to pry Rodrygo away from Madrid, though he also noted that Los Blancos may be less willing to sell the winger at this point in the window as they will not have time to find a suitable replacement for him. If the deal were to materialise at the above price, Rodrygo would be Real’s second most expensive sale of all time, behind Cristiano Ronaldo, and the third most expensive Brazilian player of all time, behind Neymar and Philippe Coutinho.

Real Madrid use a similar policy to City when it comes to player exits; if the player does not want to be at the club, they will look to facilitate a move away. This would be a promising sign for City, but Rodrygo, who was labelled as “special” by former manager Carlo Ancelotti, is reportedly “happy” at his current club, and he feels it would be “difficult” to say goodbye at this stage.

However, it remains to be seen if Hugo Viana and co. can convince the Brazilian to join City’s project. The 24-year-old saw a slight drop in his playing time last season following the arrivals of Kylian Mbappe and Endrick. He played 347 minutes fewer than he did in the 2023/24 season (excluding minutes he received in the recent Club World Cup) and his output fell in both the league and Champions League.