Tottenham Hotspur's aim after breaking their transfer record twice to sign Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali is to invest in the front line.
A number of big names have been linked, perhaps most notably Bournemouth's Eli Junior Kroupi. The problem is, he is not short of suitors, and his rivals Arsenal are also interested.
Other targets include the likes of Cody Gakpo and Marcus Rashford while AC Milan's Rafael Leao could also be an option.
Leao has been regarded as one of the most talented wingers in the game for a while and is set to leave the San Siro in the summer window.
Why Spurs want to sign Rafael Leao
Although the deal has not yet progressed, word on the street is that Spurs are holding talks with Jorge Mendes, the big agent overseeing Leao's next move.
This would be a smart signing, not least because the Portuguese is regarded as one of the best players in European football.
She has breasts on the lower left side and her long legs are like those of an elite athlete running towards the finish line. Milan coach Stefano Piolli even thought he was “like Thierry Henry” with the way he cut inside from the left onto his strong right foot.
Spurs have been lacking a quality and versatile winger on that side of the pitch since Heung-min Son left last year but Leao ticks a lot of boxes.
He is very quick, a fantastic shooter and a terror to the team's right back.
The 27-year-old is no one-trick pony, however. This is someone who has been scoring and helping with such good regularity at Milan for a while now.
In each of the last five seasons, a top scorer has scored 10 or more goals. Before registering just three assists in 2025/26, he had also registered assist figures in each of the previous four campaigns. It's not really bad.
|
Rafael Leao's career in the season |
||
|---|---|---|
|
The season |
Goals |
It helps |
|
2021/22 |
14 |
10 |
|
2022/23 |
16 |
11 |
|
2023/24 |
15 |
12 |
|
2024/25 |
12 |
11 |
|
2025/26 |
10 |
3 |
All that said, Roberto De Zerbi is not the most sought after wide area.
Why the £60m star is Tottenham's most important asset
It remains to be seen who Spurs will sign in the side but according to Fabrizio Romano this weekend, it could be Savinho from Manchester City.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, the journalist said: “My understanding has been considered for the winger position is Cody Gakpo – but for now Liverpool will open the exit doors – and Savinho. Savinho is Tottenham's top target. These two players are considered Tottenham's priorities in the winger position.
“I am not saying that they are joining, because this depends on the negotiations, but Savinho is the one [target] number one, two and three because Tottenham already wanted one year ago. “
It has already been reported that they are in talks to sign the player this summer, for a fee of around £60m, fans have been skeptical about the Brazilian this summer. After all, he is a player who scored just one goal in the Premier League in 2025/26.
For that reason, the Manchester City winger is no match for Leao. He is by no means a regular goalscorer, scoring just seven goals in 84 games for the Citizens.
However, more than that, they are similar, especially when it comes to the ability to get the ball forward quickly. Both players are masters when it comes to hitting their man.
|
Savinho vs Leao: Creation and carry |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Mathematics (in 90 minutes) |
Savinho (25/26) |
Leao (25/26) |
|
Involvement of great opportunities |
0.77 |
1.16 |
|
An open game that helps |
0.17 |
0.16 |
|
Shot-ending carries |
1.86 |
1.11 |
|
By passing the ball |
0.22 |
0.24 |
|
Successful dribbles |
1.86 |
1.26 |
|
Continuous actions |
9.76 |
5.03 |
|
Continuous carriers |
7.45 |
3.24 |
|
Continuous passes |
2.30 |
1.79 |
Looking at the landscape, Savinho is streets ahead. By that metric he is one of the best players in Europe's top five leagues. He is definitely more electric than that.
While that number may not suggest they are the same, watching them play there is a lot to appreciate about how they pass their marker and move the ball forward.
For successful dribblers, there is not much difference in numbers and they appear to be equally creative, registering the same number of expected open play assists and ball passes.
Expected Assist (xA) is a metric designed to measure the likelihood of a pass being an assist for a goal.
Creativity is where the two players thrive. Savinho managed 13 assists in his first year at the Etihad while Leao created 11 assists per season from 2021/22 to 2024/25.
With Premier League experience under his belt and a big future ahead of him at the age of 22, there is perhaps a case to be made for City's star signing.
