Manchester City fans are extremely excited to watch Savinho in action this season having now had a couple of glimpses of the Brazilian.
The winger remains the only signing of the summer so far for City, although he may soon be followed to the Etihad Stadium by former skipper Ilkay Gundogan.
Savinho arrived in a deal from Troyes that could be worth £33 million eventually.
He made his debut against Manchester United in the Community Shield, coming off the bench in the second-half at Wembley.
On Sunday, he got the nod from Pep Guardiola to start following the injury to Oscar Bobb – and he certainly impressed during the time he was on.
He was forced off at half-time after picking up a knock. But City fans really liked what they saw, and former Premier League striker Troy Deeney noticed a little moment from the Brazilian to suggest we are going to be seeing some flair from Savinho this season.
Troy Deeney loved what Savinho did for Man City in the 22nd minute v Chelsea
Savinho is now expected to get a decent level of involvement for City following the unfortunate injury to Bobb.
The Norwegian is expected to be out until the end of the year, meaning Savinho has a chance to feature fairly prominently on that right wing.
On Sunday against Chelsea, Savinho actually started on the left. But midway through the first-half, he swapped sides with Jeremy Doku.
It suited him to play on the right, and he skipped past Marc Cucurella with ease a few times.
But there was one little moment in the first-half that left Deeney really impressed. The ball went out of play in the 22nd minute after a clip down the line by Rico Lewis, and Savinho controlled the ball before it hit the floor. He took three touches and then got the ball onto his upper chest, before giving it to Cucurella.
Deeney said of the moment on the Ben Foster – The Cycling GK YouTube channel: “He was nice. I liked the fact he was just confident.
“There was a little moment, probably only weirdos like me noticed it but the ball went out of play and he just controlled it on the side of his chest, flicked it up, grabbed it on his foot and passed it to Cucurella and I was like ‘Oh my God, you’re so good’.
Savinho will be an entertainer
- Who is Savinho? The ‘special’ starlet who tore up La Liga and is Man City’s first transfer of the summer
One gets the feeling that City fans are going to seriously enjoy watching Savinho this season.
Against Chelsea, he had some lovely touches and his footwork is clearly amazing. You can tell that he has spent a lot of time watching former City ace Riyad Mahrez, who the winger cites as one of his biggest role models growing up.
Mahrez has lots of tricks up his sleeve and Savinho appears to be a very similar kind of player. Even Mahrez himself seems to think that, after he reacted to a clip of the Brazilian against Chelsea earlier today.
Doku is the man for putting on the afterburners and leaving players for dead from a standing start, and Savinho seems like he’ll be someone who will twist players inside and out.
City may well just have their new Raheem Sterling and Mahrez, and what an entertaining season it promises to be.
