Manchester City winger Savinho is “on the precipice of being world class”, Citizens expert Steven McInerney tells Sports Mole, but there is one key aspect of his game that need to improve.Manchester City expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany in is agreement with manager Pep Guardiola over what is required for talented winger Savinho to become a “world-class” player in the future.The 21-year-old joined the Citizens from sister club Troyes for an initial £21m last summer following a successful loan spell at another City Football Group side, Girona, where he recorded nine goals and 10 assists in 37 La Liga games in the 2023-24 campaign.Savinho showed flashes of brilliance throughout his debut season with Man City, chipping in with two goals and 12 assists in 45 appearances across all competitions, registering a team-high eight assists in the Premier League.City’s No.26 was a standout performer in last Thursday’s statement 5-2 victory over Juventus in their Group G top-spot decider at the FIFA Club World Cup, scoring a 20-yard rocket after setting up Phil Foden for his goal in the second half.Savinho has since received plenty of plaudits from Guardiola, who has claimed that the Brazil international has all the attributes to become an “extraordinary player”, but the youngster needs to “make more decisive actions in the final third” and add more goals to his game.Can Savinho reach the next level under Guardiola?McInerney shares Guardiola’s opinion of Savinho, telling Sports Mole: “I think Savinho is a fantastic footballer who’s on the precipice of being a world-class footballer.“I think Guardiola will love him because of his honesty as a footballer. He’s incredibly hard-working, he’s diligent, he’s fearless, he will always get the ball, he will always run at his man.“There’s a tendency for most wingers to have their head down a little bit, but Savinho does play with his head up. He’s always looking for the pass, he’s always looking for teammates in better positions for him.“As Guardiola said in the press conference, he just needs to add goals and assists to a more regular level. He didn’t exactly let himself down last season in terms of creating chances. He had the most assists of any City player in the Premier League and I think there were times where he was probably denied a few more by poor finishing (from his teammates).”McInerney believes that Savinho is “more than capable” of tripling his numbers from the 2024-25 season, adding: “Savinho clearly is a natural creator already, but he definitely has to be better in front of goal. Guardiola implied that if he unlocks it – and he said he will, and I think he will too – then we’ve got a special player.Savinho is “more than capable” of “tripling” 2024-25 numbers“He doesn’t need to score 20 goals a season to be great. I think Savinho could quite easily add 25 to 30 goal contributions, pushing towards maybe 15, 16, 17 assists and 10 to 12 goals something like that. That is a really good output for someone.“I think it’s very attainable for Savinho and I think he’s more than capable of it. We saw him score [nine goals and provide 10 assists] for Girona in La Liga which is obviously an incredibly elite league. He only got a handful [of goals] last season, but I think he’s more than capable of tripling those numbers this year, in terms of goal output.“If he’s going to finish like that (against Juventus) with his right foot as well from 20 yards, he’s going to go very far. A very honest player, very likeable player, very direct, very skilful, very hard-working and very versatile. I think Guardiola is very right to point out just how young he is as well, and just how much talent he’s got.”McInerney has also shared his thoughts on Man City’s “wonderful” team performance against Juventus and was pleased to see new signing Rayan Ait-Nouri get the best out of Jeremy Doku as they linked up down the left flank.Victory over Juventus ensured that Man City finished top of Group G with a perfect nine points from three games, and they are now preparing for a last-16 test against Al-Hilal who have been labelled as “the Real Madrid of Saudi Arabia”.> Click this link to view and listen to the full discussion as well as reaction to Man City’s 5-2 win over Juventus.ID:576518:1false2false3false: from db desktop :LenBod:collect6280:
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