Manchester City Scrutinised Over Savinho Transfer Clauses in Troyes Deal

Manchester City’s multi-club ownership network is once again under the microscope after new details emerged about the contract that took Savinho from Atlético-MG to Troyes, a fellow City Football Group (CFG) side, in 2022.

According to L1 Insider, the €6 million (£5 million) move appeared straightforward on paper — until the fine print revealed a series of bonus clauses so far-fetched that even the selling club in Brazil found them puzzling. Each bonus was tied to Troyes achieving feats well beyond their Ligue 1 status at the time.

The deal reportedly contained six conditional bonuses, including €250,000 for every ten league starts up to 60 matches, €500,000 for Champions League group appearances, and €750,000 for five knockout-stage games. One clause even promised €1.5 million if Savinho won the Ballon d’Or — as a Troyes player.

Savinho, of course, never featured for the French club. The winger later moved within the CFG network to Girona, where his breakthrough 2023/24 season caught global attention and ultimately earned him a move to Manchester City.

With the clauses tied exclusively to Troyes, Atlético-MG received none of the bonus payments — only the initial €6 million fee. Brazilian media say the club retain a minor resale percentage, but no further sums are due in the short term.

For CFG, which owns Troyes, Girona, Manchester City and several others, the structure offers logistical flexibility — but also invites controversy. Critics argue it allows top clubs to funnel emerging talents through smaller teams, insulating the parent club from risk while capturing value later.

Supporters of the model claim it’s efficient scouting at scale: Savinho’s rise, from Brazil to Girona to the Etihad, looks like a textbook success story. Yet for Atlético-MG and neutral observers, the contractual gymnastics highlight the uneven power balance between global ownership groups and local clubs.

In our view, the Savinho case underlines the need for clearer regulation around intra-group transfers. While Manchester City have acted within the current framework, the optics of a deal that effectively deprived a selling club of potential upside will not go unnoticed by FIFA or UEFA monitors. It looks likely that governing bodies will soon examine bonus clauses and profit-sharing more closely across multi-club networks. The football world may be seeing the early signs of a policy shift.

Savinho is expected to feature again when Manchester City host Liverpool on 9 November, with growing calls in Brazil for deeper transparency on historic deals. Whether regulators intervene or not, the episode has already reinforced public scrutiny of how CFG’s network manoeuvres within global football’s grey areas.

👉 City fans — do you see CFG’s network as smart business or unfair advantage?