What does Savinho's £75m move reveal about Man City's multi-club model?

For the City Football Group (CFG), the soon-to-be-completed sale of Savinho to Tottenham will mark a milestone moment.

The fee of £75m plus £10m in add-ons agreed represents a record sale for Manchester City , the most prominent club in CFG's stable.

Savinho's time with City's ownership group has not been without scrutiny.

He was a record signing for CFG-owned French club Troyes from Atletico Mineiro in 2022. But left two years later having never played for the club.

At 18, he was sent on loan to Dutch side PSV for the 2022-23 season, and then to fellow CFG-owned Spanish club Girona for 23-24, where he built his reputation.

He featured in 37 league matches as Girona secured Champions League qualification for the first time, registering nine goals and eight assists.

City immediately bought him from Troyes for £30.8m in 2024, which raised questions at the time whether that fee was fair market value, after an impressive spell in Spain.

Savinho scored just twice and contributed 12 assists during his two seasons in the Premier League so, although it could be argued he was not a sporting success in Manchester, he has been a financial one.

The fee attached to Savinho - which has caught many by surprise - has represented a huge win for CFG, which has links to 12 clubs worldwide.

In an industry where player trading has become such a vital component of how modern day football is run, the enormous profit generated from the 22-year-old's sale - at almost £70m if all the bonuses linked to his move to north London are met - is significant.

City would argue signing an 18-year-old from South America and selling that player for £75m four years later does also represent sporting success and Tottenham will be encouraged by his loan spell in La Liga which saw Savinho named in the La Liga team of the year.

"Our intention from the moment that we reached the Champions League was to try to get him to stay for another year," Quique Carcel, director of football at Girona, told BBC Sport.

"But logically after making such a big impact, City, Pep and Txiki [Begiristain] were already considering having him in their first-team squad.

"But there was a moment when they were deciding between the two options, because they also knew that Savio having another year at Girona playing in the Champions League was also a very good option.