Richarlison's Frustration Grows at Tottenham Omission
Richarlison has gone public with his frustration after being left out of Tottenham’s squad for Tuesday night’s Carabao Cup tie against Liverpool, laying bare the growing rift around his future in north London.
The Brazil forward posted a screenshot of a social media graphic highlighting his omission and added a single word: “Why?” followed by a tearful, sad-faced emoji. One word, one image – and a very clear message.
His anger comes at the end of a turbulent spell off the pitch. A proposed move to Brazilian club Vasco da Gama collapsed last week, leaving Richarlison in limbo. Sources indicated Tottenham and Vasco had reached agreement on a fee for the 29-year-old, but the deal stalled when personal terms could not be finalised before the Brazilian transfer window shut on Friday.
So he stayed. But not in the squad.
De Zerbi, speaking in his pre-match press conference on Monday, made no attempt to hide the tension that has built up since the summer.
“At the start of this season, I spoke to him many times to convince him to stay and he didn't want to,” the Tottenham head coach said. “I can't go every day to pray for him to stay.
“What I have done at the beginning of this season has been to speak with him and to propose an extension of the contract. If he said, 'no thank you,' I finished my job.”
Those words draw a hard line. De Zerbi stressed he knows exactly what has unfolded behind the scenes in recent weeks but refused to air the details.
“I know what happened in the last 45 days. It's not right if I explained. It's not my behaviour. The relationship, the problem is between the player and the club.”
So the picture is stark. A forward who wanted out, a manager who says he did all he could to keep him, a transfer that fell apart at the final hurdle – and now a high-profile omission for a major cup tie, questioned in public by the player himself.
Tottenham have a Liverpool cup tie to navigate. Richarlison has a far bigger question to answer: what comes next in a relationship that looks increasingly broken?
