Man City transfer news: Pep Guardiola’s “massive boost” could ‘tempt’ Rodrygo to join from Real Madrid amid Savinho exit rumours

Manchester City are in a “win-win” situation if they either keep Savinho or sign Real Madrid’s Rodrygo as his replacement this summer, Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany has told Sports Mole.

Savinho was left out of Pep Guardiola’s squad for Man City’s 4-0 opening win at Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League last weekend at a time when the 21-year-old winger is believed to be open to joining Tottenham Hotspur.

It has been suggested that Man City do not intend to sell Savinho before the transfer window closes on September 1, but an offer in the region of £70m could be enough for Spurs to prise the Brazil international away from the Etihad Stadium.

“If Savinho wants to go, I don’t think City will stand in his way,” McInerney told Sports Mole. “There's obviously something there to this. It's obviously him pushing a little bit.

“I guess he’s not fully committed - that's a harsh conclusion, it sounds harsh but it's true. If his head's out the door and he’s thinking about Spurs, then it implies he’s not happy with something at Manchester City.

“When you try and complete a rebuild of the magnitude that Guardiola's overseeing, you can't have anyone who's there for the ride essentially, and the implication is that he doesn't know where he stands in terms of [his first-team role]. “

Savinho out, Rodrygo in at Man City is “not the worst thing in the world”

McInerney would like to see Savinho remain at Man City this summer, but he has suggested that 24-year-old Rodrygo - a three-time Champions League and two-time La Liga winner across six years at Real Madrid - could be an upgrade on the winger.

“If you're bringing in Rodrygo, he is proven established quality at the highest level. He's at the very least Savinho's quality, if not better,” said McInerney.

“I would rather have Savinho because he's a young talent that's going in the right direction and he's got so much potential. He's already shown he can mix it in the Premier League, but Rodrygo is a Champions League winner, he's devastated City multiple times on his own and I think he's scored more goals against City than Savinho’s scored for City!

“If we lose Savinho, a 21-year-old, brilliant Brazilian winger and bring in a 24-year-old Brazilian, and established elite-level Champions League winner, then it's not really the worst thing in the world."

McInerney added: “Rodrygo is a player of immense quality that will of course suit the game that City are currently playing - this high intensity, high pressure, dynamic one that we saw against Wolves.

“If Savinho goes, [I’d be] gutted, but it's a win-win already for City if we keep a great, young talent or we get one of the best wingers in world football, so I can't sit here and complain.

“I'm much more of a fan of breaking talents as opposed to established ones, but Rodrygo is a special footballer and if he's joins City, he's going to do really well.”

‘Rodrygo suits a Guardiola style more than Real Madrid under Ancelotti’

With Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham considered as the main ‘Galacticos’ at Real Madrid, Rodrygo has been linked with an exit from throughout this summer and has been tipped to make a move to the Premier League amid reported interest from the likes of Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal.

Discussing whether a move to Man City to work under Guardiola would appeal to Rodrygo, McInerney said: “Absolutely. The suggestions are that Rodrygo likes the idea of playing with Guardiola. He would suit his football.

“When you watch Rodrygo, not only is he an incredibly smart technical player, he's a busy player. He's bustling around, he loves to take touches - and very much reminiscent of what you see from Oscar Bobb in terms of knowing when to pass the ball and knowing when to drive at people. There's a real busyness and liveness to his game as well as being incredibly aggressive at attacking.

“That role Guardiola has where he's got the overlapping full-backs, the interior role where the winger is drifting inwards and plays as a slightly inverted playmaker, that suits Rodrygo down to an absolute tee. He will suit a Guardiola style more probably than Real Madrid, I would argue, and what he's had under [Carlo] Ancelotti.

“He's highly technical, a really creative footballer, very good in all the tight spaces that City sides usually come up against, and I think Guardiola is going to absolutely love him if he gets him.

“I can imagine Rodrygo is absolutely tempted by life at Man City”

“I think he might even give a hard time for [Jermey] Doku and [Omar] Marmoush, unfortunately. As good as they are, I think he's going to be the perfect tucked in winger with [Rayan] Ait-Nouri overlapping. I think he'll be a bit of a revelation in a City shirt to be honest.

“He dipped a little bit last season because he wasn't playing as much and in the new era of Galactico as a Real Madrid, I saw that his xG was down because the chances created for him were a lot poorer, so he was scoring less and the minutes weren't quite as high, but I suspect we'd see the Rodrygo from two or three years ago (at City) when he was absolutely decisive in the Champions League and for Real Madrid in general.”

McInerney continued: “I think he’d suit City. I think he knows that Guardiola's football will be set up for him to get a lot of touches in the right places and the movement around him will be really good. He'll get a lot of chances, in my opinion, in the best league in the world, would be paid handsomely for it and would win an awful lot of trophies.

“I can imagine he's absolutely tempted by life at City, because it's a safe bet to win stuff under Guardiola and two years left guaranteed with Guardiola, I think it'd be a great move for Rodrygo. I think he’d probably trusts himself to get in the team.

“There’s been an imbalance in terms of right and left-sided options, but I think he knows he'd probably get in the team on the left wing, because he is better probably than Marmoush and Doku in terms of current ability and readiness. Some people will disagree with that, but I think Rodrygo has proven it at the highest level and just how good he could be in the right setup.

“I think he’d be very tempted by what Guardiola has to say. Guardiola clearly loves him and if Guardiola really wants you, then that’s a massive, massive boost of confidence for you.”

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