Tottenham's £85m Savio transfer puts pressure on overspending Spurs and De Zerbi

If trophies were handed out for overspending, Tottenham Hotspur would already be booking an open-topped bus. On Sky Sports the other night, Jamie Carragher suggested Liverpool’s spending in the summer of 2025 could eventually prove to be the worst transfer window for any Premier League club in the competition’s history.

Liverpool spent £445million in that window. Spurs are not at that level yet but there are still a few days left. Give them time.

First things first, it is hard to fault the club’s owners for their enthusiasm in the transfer market. Fans always want new signings and Spurs have delivered, that is for sure.

And their lavishly-funded ambition, along with their faith in Roberto De Zerbi, might well pay dividends. Arsenal threaten to be a class apart this season but there is no other stand-out team.

But the extravagant outlay puts extra pressure on De Zerbi, and there are already concerns for Spurs fans. The most obvious is the performance at Brentford in the opening Premier League game of the season.

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Even accounting for Brentford’s excellence, Spurs were a shambles. Of the many problems, one was the lack of midfield protection for the defence.

That protection should be led by Sandro Tonali. After all, why else would you pay £100m for a midfielder who scored five goals and made four assists in his 79 Premier League appearances for Newcastle United?

It was not a great day at Brentford for Jan Paul van Hecke, either. The Dutch defender ‘only’ cost Spurs £52million but only had a year left on his Brighton contract.

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His fee was £33m less than the one Spurs paid for Mateus Fernandes, whose previous two seasons were spent at Southampton and West Ham - both campaigns ended with his side being relegated. And now there is Savinho, who now wants to be known as Savio at his new club.

But however he is known at Spurs, he will be the same player who scored only twice in 53 Premier League appearances after joining Manchester City for just over £30million in the summer of 2024. He has now joined Spurs for a fee of £75million that could rise to £85million.

Even allowing for general Premier League inflation, that is a hike in valuation that should mystify most. And it looks like Savinho - or Savio - will be followed by Omar Marmoush, who has scored ten goals in 37 appearances for City.

There is talk that Spurs are also keen on Cody Gakpo, although it seems unlikely Liverpool will sanction a sale. Having said that, if someone was willing to pay well over the odds, you never know. And when it comes to paying over the odds, Spurs are the league leaders right now. By some distance.

The Premier League, in particular, has a history of over-spending. A club going through this sort of spending phase is far from new.

As Carragher pointed out, Liverpool did it 12 months ago. It did not have a positive effect for Liverpool, but Spurs will be working on the basis that they surely cannot fail to improve on last season.

Despite the defeat at Brentford, that is probably fair enough. But whether the improvement matches the expenditure is open to serious debate.

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