Manchester City, and the wider City Football Group (CFG), have made no secret of the fact that they are keen to sign up as many talented young South Americans as possible.
Brexit rules mean that it is now far easier for City to sign teenage talents from Brazil and Argentina than Europe, while they are also keen to place other youngsters at some of their sister clubs in the hope that they will one day develop into elite footballers.
Kayky, Yan Couto, Talles Magno and Metinho are just some of the Brazilian players to have joined CFG-owned clubs in recent years, while teenage Argentine winger Dario Sarmiento is also on City's books after signing from Estudiantes in 2021.
The next player to join that group should be Savinho, with CFG having agreed an initial €6.5 million (£5.5m/$7.5m) deal with Atletico Mineiro to sign the winger.
That fee could rise by another €6m (£5m/$7m) if certain objectives are met, with the 17-year-old set to join Troyes in the summer of 2022, teaming up with his compatriot Metinho, who has been with the French club since the 2021 pre-season.
Arsenal were also widely reported to be keen on Savinho, but City's owners moved quickly to get hold of a player who has been making waves in junior football back in his homeland for a number of years.
Savinho joined Atletico-MG as an 11-year-old in 2015 and was immediately promoted to the Under-13s side.
"He is from So Mateus, Espirito Santo. He played for a team there. They came here in Belo Horizonte to play against Atletico and Cruzeiro. Then he played a game against our team, Sintetic Ball, and stood out," Savinho's agent, Juliano Rodrigues, explains to GOAL.
"I saw that he had quality, and I recommended to Fred Cascardo, who was the academy director at Atletico at the time, that he be signed up right away."
The winger continued to play above his age group throughout his time in the Atletico academy, standing out due to the skill he possessed in his favoured left foot.
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Regularly played off the right, he aimed to cut inside and provide goals and assists, much like one of his footballing idols, Arjen Robben.
He has also been compared more recently to Antony, who has been starring for Ajax and the Brazil national team over the past year.
Savinho himself has been a constant figure in Brazil's age-group sides, and was part of the squad that won the Under-15s South American Championship in 2019.
A year later, he signed his first professional contract at Atletico – a deal that drew attention from the wider Brazilian public due to the €60m (£50m/$66m) release clause that was included within it.
Though his salary was more akin to what a player of his age would usually earn, it proved enough to make Savinho's dream come true, as he was able to buy a house for his mother.
"He is very attached to his mother, the family is good. She helps him a lot," Rodrigues explains, as Savinho's mother also takes an active role in managing his finances, so as not to let things get out of hand regarding her son's lifestyle.
On the pitch, Savinho was first called-up to play against Atletico's first team in training matches in 2020, where he soon caught the eye of manager Jorge Sampaoli.
The Argentine coach was previously at Santos when Rodrygo broke into the senior squad before joining Real Madrid, and GOAL has learned that on more than occasion he described Savinho as being "much better" than the NXGN 2020 winner.
"Savio is a very young player, who has a great future," Sampaoli said after handing the youngster his first professional start in October 2020, which was one of eight first-team appearances he made before the season was out.
"He has been training together with his team-mates and we know his ability. We trust him a lot for the future."
While Savinho picked up plenty playing with and against the first team, it is within the academy structure where he truly learned what it takes to be a success at Atletico.
"In my time at Atletico's academy, he was always very prominent," the club's former youth director, Junior Chavare, tells GOAL. "He was a very committed and professional player, despite his young age.
"We worked on some fundamental issues with him through the 'DNA Alvinegro' program, carried out in 2019 and 2020. He then went to train with Sampaoli's team, and he always pleased him."
Sampaoli left Atletico ahead of the 2021 season, though his replacement, Cuca, did not ignore Savinho's ability, playing him in 13 matches over the course of the year, the majority of his minutes came in the regional championship rather than Serie A, with Hulk and Diego Costa leading the line for the eventual champions.
Atletico have another new coach for 2022 in Antonio Mohamed and, thus far, Savinho has been on the fringes, though that may be in part because he is about to leave the club.
Regardless, it seems that the CFG have got themselves another South American gem. Now the fight to prove he can make it Manchester City begins for Savinho.
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