Savinho makes multi hundred pound move to the Stadium of Light, triggering transfer swings and roundabouts
Posted: 13 Oct 2025, 05:02
Sunderland have completed the signing of Brazillian winger Savinho from Division Two rivals Crystal Palace for an estimated £160 million pounds, leading to the transfer movement of no less than SIXTEEN players in a 24 hour period and drastically reshaping the Sunderland and Crystal Palace squads.
Phones ran hot, emails got sent as high priority, fax machines did whatever fax machines do (can anyone trust them? They are indistinguishable from magic), and spreadsheets burst into seas of red expenditure and green incoming sums. The net result is that Savinho will join fellow Brazillian Estevao in the Northeast; Sunderland fans will be fervently hoping for an immediate chemistry and understanding between the two - but this has been a complex series of transfers to get to where we are at market close on Monday.
We'll now review the deals:
The deal to bring Savinho to the Stadium of Light saw a number of U23 players exchanged as the Eagles looked to get compliant with the league's U23 squad registration rules. Ferran Torres was the senior midfielder to head out for Selhurst Park; he has been a key part of Sunderland's form this season however will welcome the opportunity for more minutes in the Crystal Palace midfield.
Sunderland U23 players Richardson, Kindon, Jones and Bogusz were then part of a bulk exchange of young players with the Palace U23's; in turn Sunderland received four U23 overage or over-skill players in goalkeeper Maguire, midfielders Isler and Peart, and defender Ferguson - essentially exchanging Savinho for the same U23 registration problems Palace have been dealing with since the off-season. It's just not ever possible to pass up the opportunity to sign a player worth £131M in a deal with Athletico Minero just weeks ago and whom has already been showing clear signs he can swashbuckle with the best of the Premier League let alone Division Two.
So the next move was for Sunderland to demote Burlace to the U23 squad in order to meet minimum registration requirements. N_Ferguson was offered the opportunity to continue playing elsewhere or to take up a non-playing role with the club in player welfare and development; he took this over a non-league move after weighing up options.
Isler and Peart have been registered with the Sunderland senior squad but rumours are they are being touted about to continue their careers elsewhere and swaps have been sought for U23 eligible players to fill the vacancies arising from the Savinho deal.
Next, promising 22 year old defender L_Buchanan was made available for cash transfer and Aston Villa met the Black Cats' valuation in a deal worth £31 million; Aston Villa have then sold Emerson onwards out of the FMFA in a pair of deals that would leave both clubs' accountants and boards happy.
Despite the club's recruitment department burning all of the candles in the offices at both ends to try to magic up a favourable deal within the league as a player exchange Sunderland weren't yet able to find clubs willing to part with U23 eligible players for the terms offered. So the club had to rapidly negotiate transfer and signing on fees with the following three young players via the FMFA sales pathway.
This means the Black Cats have resolved the U23 eligibility issues they essentially bought from Crystal Palace as part of the Savinho deal, and it says the Wearsiders are quite comfortable with the makeup of their senior team and are looking to sign and play the very best young talent they can whatever the cost might be. It also demonstrates how firmly the league enforces it's fair play rules and makes clear some of the costs clubs will take on to not fall afoul of those rules.
Around the league, the move has drawn mixed reactions. Some managers praise Sunderland’s courage to chase top-end talent regardless of cost, while others questioned the lavish spending by the club in the setting of a great start to the season and a sense of overpaying - not to Palace as such but to fix the squad issue baked into the Savinho deal. Palace’s approach, focusing on sorting that very issue, was lauded as pragmatic, yet the Fanatics are understandably unimpressed about losing their talisman. Who got the best of it? The proof will be in the pudding we guess.
Savinho is expected to debut in red and white away to Leicester City midweek who themselves boast a number of breakout young players including 19 year olds Huijsen and Hato at the heart of their defense. They might very well have the best young keeper in the league in Madagascan international Mathyas Randriamamy too. The two clubs are both in double digits goals scored with just four league games played so it will be a compelling watch for fans and neutrals alike!
Phones ran hot, emails got sent as high priority, fax machines did whatever fax machines do (can anyone trust them? They are indistinguishable from magic), and spreadsheets burst into seas of red expenditure and green incoming sums. The net result is that Savinho will join fellow Brazillian Estevao in the Northeast; Sunderland fans will be fervently hoping for an immediate chemistry and understanding between the two - but this has been a complex series of transfers to get to where we are at market close on Monday.
We'll now review the deals:
Code: Select all
Crystal Palace receive:
Ferran_Torres 23 spa 1 13 22 13 22 300 294 58 403 - to CRY
A_Richardson 21 eng 23 3 2 1 21 459 300 300 300 - to YCR
B_Kindon 18 eng 1 18 5 3 23 300 300 300 300 - to YCR
J_Jones 18 eng 1 5 17 7 20 300 300 320 300 - to YCR
M_Bogusz 22 eng 1 3 18 14 21 300 705 140 184 - to YCR
+ 70m cash
Sunderland receive:
Savinho 20 bra 1 9 24 17 29 300 417 134 504 - to SUN
A_Maguire 22 eng 24 1 1 1 28 248 300 300 300 - to YSU
I_Isler 22 tur 1 4 20 3 24 300 351 971 771 - to SUN
M_P-Peart 23 eng 2 4 20 3 18 300 299 132 911 - to SUN
N_Ferguson 24 eng 1 15 9 6 22 300 734 637 176 - to SUNSunderland U23 players Richardson, Kindon, Jones and Bogusz were then part of a bulk exchange of young players with the Palace U23's; in turn Sunderland received four U23 overage or over-skill players in goalkeeper Maguire, midfielders Isler and Peart, and defender Ferguson - essentially exchanging Savinho for the same U23 registration problems Palace have been dealing with since the off-season. It's just not ever possible to pass up the opportunity to sign a player worth £131M in a deal with Athletico Minero just weeks ago and whom has already been showing clear signs he can swashbuckle with the best of the Premier League let alone Division Two.
Code: Select all
D_Burlace 22 eng 1 13 11 3 21 300 998 1 457 - demoted to Sunderland U23'sIsler and Peart have been registered with the Sunderland senior squad but rumours are they are being touted about to continue their careers elsewhere and swaps have been sought for U23 eligible players to fill the vacancies arising from the Savinho deal.
Code: Select all
Sunderland sell L_Buchanan 22 eng 1 20 11 2 23 300 137 71 723 for £31m to Aston Villa
Villa sell Emerson 28 bra 1 18 16 7 24 300 599 87 957 for £19.5m to FMFA sales
Despite the club's recruitment department burning all of the candles in the offices at both ends to try to magic up a favourable deal within the league as a player exchange Sunderland weren't yet able to find clubs willing to part with U23 eligible players for the terms offered. So the club had to rapidly negotiate transfer and signing on fees with the following three young players via the FMFA sales pathway.
Code: Select all
B_Hester 17 eng 1 17 4 2 19 300 300 300 300 - for £35M
K_Reid 17 eng 1 2 17 4 19 300 300 300 300 - for £35M
M_Dean 21 eng 1 2 4 16 20 300 376 586 40 - for £19.5MAround the league, the move has drawn mixed reactions. Some managers praise Sunderland’s courage to chase top-end talent regardless of cost, while others questioned the lavish spending by the club in the setting of a great start to the season and a sense of overpaying - not to Palace as such but to fix the squad issue baked into the Savinho deal. Palace’s approach, focusing on sorting that very issue, was lauded as pragmatic, yet the Fanatics are understandably unimpressed about losing their talisman. Who got the best of it? The proof will be in the pudding we guess.
Savinho is expected to debut in red and white away to Leicester City midweek who themselves boast a number of breakout young players including 19 year olds Huijsen and Hato at the heart of their defense. They might very well have the best young keeper in the league in Madagascan international Mathyas Randriamamy too. The two clubs are both in double digits goals scored with just four league games played so it will be a compelling watch for fans and neutrals alike!