Manchester City transfer questioned by Newcastle United fans amid multi-club model debate

Manchester City have agreed a deal to sign Girona winger Savio, but the transfer has caused plenty of debate on social media. Savio is currently on-loan at the surprise La Liga title contenders after joining from French side Troyes in summer.

The 19-year-old became Troyes’ all-time record purchase in 2022 when he moved to the club from his native Brazil for a fee that could rise to £10m. However, he has yet to play a game for Troyes and spent last season on-loan at PSV Eindhoven before joining Girona in July.

Both Girona and Troyes are part of the City Football Group - a group that has Manchester City as their jewel club. This fact has not gone unnoticed by supporters who have recognised that Savio, who as mentioned has not featured for his parent club at all since joining, is now set to move to another part of the City Football Group and make the switch to the Etihad Stadium.

Whilst the move is allowed within the current rules, Newcastle United fans have taken to social media to question the transfer, highlighting the recent attempt by Premier League teams to block loan moves between clubs that share the same ownership. That ban would have meant Newcastle could not sign players from Al Hilal, Al Ahli, Al Ittihad and Al Nassr, however, the motion failed by a single vote and was not implemented.

In the end, the Magpies didn’t sign any players from the PIF-owned quartet, during the January transfer window - despite having a long injury list and a need to bolster the options available to Eddie Howe. The strong belief in the north east would be that any such move would be heavily scrutinised anyway, such are the links between Newcastle United and the four Saudi Pro League teams. 

This has led supporters to questioning City’s latest transfer acquisition with one user writing: 'Imagine if this was #NUFC doing a deal with a Saudi club'. Another wrote: ‘Not the same owners surely? If they were I’m sure id have seen loads of uproar’.

The fee City will pay Troyes for the teenager has not been made public, however, he had previously been the subject of interest from other Premier League and Bundesliga clubs with a reported valuation of €30m.