Arsenal tried to sign Savinho before he joined Manchester City, with the player’s choice ultimately proving key to the transfer.
Sam Dean reports for The Telegraph that Manchester City’s Savinho was wanted by Arsenal back in 2022, but the player chose instead to join City Football Group and ultimately become a regular under Pep Guardiola.
This isn’t entirely new information, with some reports at the time also revealing Arsenal’s interest in the then-Atletico Mineiro player.
Up until March of 2022, the Gunners still appeared to be in the race, having made contact over the potential signing. But City always seemed to be the favourites.
In the end, Savinho technically didn’t join either club that summer. Instead, he signed for Troyes, who submitted a bid of €6.5m with €6m in bonuses.
But Troyes are just another member of City Football Group, and Savinho didn’t make a single appearance for them amid a couple of loan spells to PSV and fellow City Football Group side Girona before transferring to Manchester City for around £31m.
Though City ended up spending a lot more than if they’d signed Savinho directly, they were able to oversee his development within their multi-club model before committing to bringing him in when he appeared to be ready for the switch.
Arsenal didn’t have that luxury, with no sister clubs to send Savinho to until he was ready. Sam Dean adds in his report that there are also no strong suggestions the Gunners will soon set up a multi-club model in the future.
Savinho hasn’t had the best start to the 2025/26 season, with just one goal and two assists in his 16 appearances in all competitions. But there will still be frustration at Arsenal that they’ve missed opportunities to sign some of South America’s top talents in recent years.
Perhaps that’s now changing, with the news that the club are closing in on completing a double deal for Edwin and Holger Quintero.