West Ham United have sold Savio to ACF Fiorentina with the club receiving an undisclosed fee and Portuguese centre-back Manuel Da Costa in return from the UEFA Champions League contenders.
Da Costa, 23, moves to the Boleyn Ground on a three-year contract after one season in Italy, having left Florence in January for a loan at their Serie A rivals UC Sampdoria. His home debut could come against Liverpool on Saturday 19 September, the team he played against for PSV Eindhoven in the 2006/07 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.
The French-born defender first made his name with AS Nancy-Loraine before his high-profile switch to PSV. He promptly won the Dutch title in his first season in 2006/07 and was soon being courted by some of Europe's leading clubs before heading to Fiorentina. Capped 23 times at U21 level, Da Costa has twice been named in senior squads by Portugal.
Savio's departure will see the club retain 50 per cent of his sell-on value in future. The Germany Under-20 international arrived at the Boleyn Ground in January from Brescia Calcio for an undisclosed fee. The 20-year-old made eleven appearances - ten off the substitute's bench - but failed to establish himself in the side. The emergence of Junior Stanislas also limited Savio's chances.
West Ham United CEO Scott Duxbury said: "This is a good deal for everyone concerned. Although not for the want of trying, Savio has struggled to make an impact for various reasons, while Manuel is also looking for a fresh start. We will continue to look at home and across Europe for the brightest prospects as they best fit our vision for this club's future.
"Had our financial situation been different we would have preferred to have kept and developed Savio. However, we are required to make savings and our policy has always been to sell players on the fringes rather than established first-team players. With the fee we received for Savio and 50 per cent sell-on together with acquiring the highly-rated Da Costa, it represented a great deal."
West Ham have been busy in the transfer market this summer, signing the highly-regarded attack-minded Serie A players Luis Jimenez and Alessandro Diamanti from Internazionale and AS Livorno Calcio respectively. The club has also bought Herita Ilunga and Radoslav Kovac permanently after their successful loan deals last season and acquired the highly-rated trio Peter Kurucz, Fabio Daprela and Frank Nouble.