Savio has an unsaid advantage over Mohammed Kudus
Mohammed Kudus is coming back from an injury that has taken more months to recover from than anticipated, but Tottenham Hotspur will soon have their actual best player - not Richarlison or Archie Gray - of the 2025/26 Premier League season back to full fitness.
The thing is, Kudus may not be a starter every week if Roberto De Zerbi wants to maximize the number of goals Spurs score as an attack. With the Cody Gakpo deal falling through, Tottenham are on the verge of signing Iliman Ndiaye from Everton, and it is unlikely Richarlison can put a kibosh to the deal. And if Ndiaye joins, he could very well be the starter on the left wing as a right footer, with De Zerbi trying to extract more goals than the Toffees did, especially since Everton played Ndiaye on the right so that Premier League veteran Jack Grealish could start on the left.
In that case, Omar Marmoush would continue to start at center forward, which is probably going to be the stance no matter what, leaving Savio and Kudus in a debate on who starts on the right side of the Tottenham Hotspur attack.
Savio has one thing Mohammed Kudus is missing
Although Mohammed Kudus once scored 11 goals in a season, that was with Ajax, and everyone knows you cannot equate goals scored in the Dutch Eredivisie with goals in a top five European league, let alone the Premier League. And in the Premier League, Kudus has never scored more than five goals in a season, which is a terrible return for a winger.
While a lot of Manchester City fans spat out the copium of Savio barely scoring Premier League goals in order to downplay his exit to Tottenham, it is actually harder, statistically speaking, to score goals in La Liga, which Spanish matches having fewer goals per game in almost every season this past decade. And yet in 2023/24, Savio, despite being more of a creator, scored nine goals in that La Liga season with Girona before joining Manchester City, becoming a key La Liga Player of the Season contender behind the likes of Real Madrid superstars and Ballon d'Or contenders Toni Kroos, Vinicius Junior, and Jude Bellingham.
Roberto De Zerbi wants goals, and while Omar Marmoush should be able to score more than Dominic Solanke and Richarlison did last season, he alone at center forward is not enough. Spurs need even more, and if that is what Spurs want the most, then Savio has a distinct advantage in a toss up on the right flank with Kudus, who is a terrible scoring option.
Today's best reads
Mohammed Kudus's Tottenham return is beyond massive for Omar Marmoush and Savio
Brennan Johnson will make Tottenham appreciate Savio even more
Omar Marmoush and Savio have created a Cody Gakpo nightmare for Tottenham
Pedro Porro will make Roberto De Zerbi try to extract more goals from Savio
Roberto De Zerbi has set a target Savio needs to hit for Tottenham
