Liverpool's Search for a New Winger: The Savinho Dilemma

Liverpool’s search for a new right-sided winger is starting to feel like a high‑stakes game of patience and price tags.

Mohamed Salah has gone. The 34-year-old walked away from Anfield at the end of June after agreeing to terminate his £400,000‑a‑week deal a year early, leaving a profile that has defined Liverpool’s attack for nearly a decade suddenly missing from Andoni Iraola’s squad: a left-footed, right‑sided forward who bends games – and defences – to his will.

Liverpool have money. What they don’t yet have is the right fit at the right price.

Barcola: Big talent, bigger fee, wrong profile

Bradley Barcola is one of the names circling the conversation. The Paris Saint‑Germain forward is highly rated, hugely expensive and, crucially, not quite what Liverpool are looking for.

Valued at around £145m, Barcola would be a statement signing in any window. He’s right-footed, comfortable on either flank, and arguably more dangerous cutting in from the left than operating from the right. For a club wanting pure firepower and flexibility across the front line, he makes a lot of sense.

For a club trying to replace the very specific threat Salah offered from that right channel, he doesn’t fully solve the problem.

That is the dilemma facing new sporting director Richard Hughes. Pay an enormous fee for a player who doesn’t mirror Salah’s profile, or walk away and find someone who does.

The Savinho solution

That “someone” could be Savinho.

The 22-year-old Brazilian, on Manchester City’s books and previously on loan at Girona, has made his intentions clear. He wants out of the Etihad this summer, driven by a desire for regular first‑team football that has not arrived under Pep Guardiola.

Fabrizio Romano has reported that Savinho has formally informed City of his wish to leave, posting on X that the winger “wants to play more and develop in his career” and that “all in Man City hands now.”

That line matters. City control the situation, but the player’s stance is set. He wants a pathway, not another season on the margins.

Savinho is not a perfect Salah clone, yet stylistically he ticks more of the right boxes than Barcola. He is a wide forward who can operate on the right, attack defenders directly and threaten goal as well as supply. At 22, he also fits Liverpool’s long-standing model of recruiting players on the brink of their peak years.

Tottenham push, Liverpool wait

There is, however, a complication. Tottenham.

Romano also states that Savinho sits “on top of their list,” a stance echoed in a report from TEAMtalk, which claims Spurs have made the winger a priority target. Roberto De Zerbi’s side, according to that report, have given Manchester City until the weekend to reach an agreement. If they can’t, Spurs will turn to alternatives.

One of those alternatives is said to be Cody Gakpo – a name that will make Liverpool supporters sit up a little straighter. The Dutchman has operated across the front line for Liverpool, including off the left and through the middle, and his inclusion on Tottenham’s radar underlines how quickly this window could reshape attacks at the top end of the Premier League.

Savinho, TEAMtalk add, is valued at around £60m and is under contract with Enzo Maresca’s side until 2031. That fee is significant but far from the eye-watering £145m figure attached to Barcola. For a club trying to rebuild one of its key attacking lanes without detonating the entire budget, the numbers are at least workable.

A door waiting to open

From Liverpool’s perspective, the dynamic is clear. Spurs are driving the Savinho chase, pushing for a quick resolution. City hold the cards. The player wants out. And Liverpool, for now, are watching.

To some on Merseyside, the idea of spending heavily on a winger who has not yet proved himself as a star at the very top level might feel like a gamble. But there is a player there – sharp, direct, hungry – and under the right coach he could be moulded into exactly the kind of weapon Iraola’s system demands on that right flank.

If Tottenham get their deal done by the weekend, Liverpool’s attention may swing back towards Barcola or an entirely different target list. If talks stall or collapse, though, the equation changes in an instant.

That is where Richard Hughes comes in. Does he sit tight and trust the market to break his way, or does he move the moment the door to Savinho swings even slightly ajar?