Sávio: The Underrated Talent Who is Ready to Set the World Ablaze

Sávio Moreira de Oliveira, known as Sávio or Savinho, is one of the new era’s wingers at just 20 years old. The Brazilian has not been on the scene long but has already earned himself a move to a top club with Manchester City purchasing him for €25 million from fellow City Group side Troyes. After enjoying a very successful season at Girona (also City Group), Man City felt it was clearly time for him to move up to the top of the City Group tower. However, having only played 119 professional matches, there was a lot of debate as to firstly, whether he could make the step up, and secondly, if he would even get game time at City. But with 22 appearances for City already, including 15 starts, it is clear that he is well in Pep Guardiola’s plans with a first-team place pretty much nailed down.

As previously mentioned, Sávio enjoyed a superb season at Girona during the 23/24 season which saw Girona earn Champions League qualification for the first time in their history. During this season, Sávio scored 9 goals and recorded 10 assists in just 37 games making him one of the breakout stars of that La Liga season. His achievements in the league certainly got overshadowed by the rise of Lamine Yamal, who caught the eye of fans everywhere. However, this doesn’t discredit what Sávio did but simply makes him vastly underrated. Since joining Man City, he has not always had it easy with it taking half a season for him to even score his first goal for the club. Outside of the struggle for his first goal, Sávio was hindered by the downturn of form for the Premier League Champions with attacking efficiency and control of the game being hard to come by. This being said, the Brazilian star has still managed one goal and 5 assists in 18 league appearances which most would class as a solid return. But what has been impressive for Sávio since his move to City is his underlining numbers which demonstrate that he was a good signing and that he will just keep on getting better.

Hit output is up there with the best in the league as he leans into his attacking and creative talent. His numbers put him up there with the very best. In terms of both shot-creating actions per 90 and goal-creating actions per 90, he ranks 3rd for both of these metrics. With

SCA he is only behind potentially the greatest passing midfielder in Premier League history in Kevin De Bruyne and 2-time English Player of the Year Bukayo Saka who was enjoying a marvellous season before his injury. With GCA’s he is also behind Saka but he manages to trump De Bruyne which is an achievement in itself. Amad Diallo’s numbers are just above his in this regard but again Diallo is having a wonderful year. There are players such as Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers and Antoine Semenyo who are all having amazing years in their own right but Sávio can trump each of them in these attacking metrics. This leads to the question of why isn’t Sávio being placed in the same category as these players and it comes down to luck pretty much. Whilst only producing 0.07 less SCA’s p90 than Saka, Sávio has 5 fewer assists which just demonstrates that you can produce all you want, but without attacking efficiency, the numbers you produce mean nothing. Therefore, I feel that when these chances are finally taken, we will see Sávio’s assists skyrocket and his name will be mentioned amongst the best in the Premier League.

Other than his output, Sávio boasts a tremendous amount of talent on the ball and is easily one of the best ball carriers in the league. Although Brazilians are notorious for their ability on the ball with tricks and skills, Sávio brings far more efficiency to it. His ability to carry the

ball up the pitch and more importantly into the opponent’s area is statistically the 2nd best in the league. Only 2nd that is to fellow Man City player Jeremy Doku. Sávio’s numbers when carrying the ball are exceptional with him managing 7.58 progressive carries p90 which outdoes some of the best dribbles in the league in Mohammed Kudus, Anthong Gordon and even speed demon Adama Traore. But what is impressive is where he chooses to operate with his progressive carries being used to attack the opponent’s penalty area rather than dropping deep to pick up the ball and carry it out of defence. He goes are the opposition with 4.17 carries into the opponent’s penalty area p90 (CPA). Furthermore, just for reference, Lamine Yamal this season only has a 2.64 CPA, Jamal Musiala only has a 1.69 CPA and Mbappe during his time on the wing at PSG never exceeded more than 3.93 CPA in a season. This is not to say he is better than these players but his numbers are those of the very best and demonstrate just how high his ceiling is. Sávio may not have caught the worldlight this season but he is just going to keep on getting better and these statistics tell you that he will be up there with at minimum the best wingers in the Premier League.