Savinho
Manchester City suffered a disappointing defeat to Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League, with Savinho among the players who failed to make an impact. Despite a promising start to the season, the Brazilian has struggled to maintain form, leading to questions about his future at the club. The match against Bayer Leverkusen saw City make ten changes, resulting in a lackluster performance that highlighted the team’s current inconsistencies.
Tyrone Marshall said: “He is maddeningly inconsistent. He seemed to get a lot of criticism on Saturday and it was a bad cameo. But there has got to be more there. He clearly fluttered his eyelashes at Tottenham in the summer and was clearly interested in making that move. City always say they won’t stand in a player’s way if they want to go. I don’t get the impression that City were that keen on selling him. They did shut it down reasonably early and then he got a new contract after one average season, I would say. That performance at Villarreal he was brilliant, and you thought he was stepping it up and was going to be the player City need him to be and he just can’t put it together. Pep has gone to this system where he is only playing one winger, if that, at the moment, and it makes it harder for Savinho to get in the team. If you are going to play one player who is going to go wide it is going to be Doku at the moment. Savinho didn’t do a lot last season and then was at least very open to the idea of going, and then got rewarded with a new contract. He is having too many games where he is stinking the place out.”
Alex James said: “The decision to give him a new contract, that seemed mad. He had four years left on his old contract, he had done okay last season and is only 21. I found that bizarre, he isn’t a player where there is interest from someone else that means ‘we better tie him down to a long term contract’. That decision was odd to say the least. And he has then not kicked on. But we maybe had this conversation last season around Doku to a degree and it does feel like he has kicked on as a young player and a winger. So there does need to be a step back. But it’s that emotional response of him wanting to go, and he then gets a new contract he probably doesn’t deserve and he can’t change games. Guardiola must rate him because he was the most used at the CWC and it did feel at the start of the season that City’s most likely XI had Savinho in it, and now maybe he’ll be lucky to get 20 minutes off the bench every other week.”
Savinho’s recent performances have been a source of frustration for Manchester City fans and management alike. His inconsistency has been highlighted by his promising display against Villarreal, which has not been replicated since. The decision to offer him a new contract, despite having four years remaining on his previous one, has raised eyebrows, especially given his lack of significant contributions on the field. With Pep Guardiola’s current tactical setup favoring other players, Savinho’s opportunities to prove himself may be limited. As the season progresses, the Brazilian will need to find consistency to secure his place in the team and justify the club’s faith in him.
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