Richarlison started Tottenham's opening Premier League game against Brentford. Three weeks later, he's training alone, left off the registered squad, and staring at a career in limbo. The fall was that fast.
The short version: Richarlison signalled he'd be open to leaving if the right deal arrived. Spurs went after that, negotiations with Everton advanced, then collapsed — and now no one looks clean. The player says he was railroaded. The club says he asked to leave. Roberto De Zerbi, characteristically, said both things almost simultaneously.
"Sometimes he said to stay, sometimes he leaves," the manager noted during preseason. That ambiguity might have been manageable in July. It became a full-blown crisis the moment the English transfer window shut without a deal done.
What actually happened — and who carries the blame
De Zerbi's version is straightforward: Richarlison asked to leave at the start of preseason, declined an offer to extend his contract, and the club planned accordingly. When Spurs brought in Dominic Solanke and Omar Marmoush, the squad math changed. Richarlison becoming surplus wasn't an act of spite — it was arithmetic.
The player's version, amplified by Brazilian journalist Renato Senise, tells a different story. Richarlison never formally demanded a transfer, only indicated he'd consider leaving if conditions suited everyone. He stayed last season when Saudi clubs came calling because Spurs needed him — and finished as their top scorer. The Everton offer, Senise claims, was significantly below what other clubs had tabled, making it financially unworkable for the player regardless of his affection for the club.
Both versions can be true. That's often how these situations rot — a mutual misreading, a lack of hard conversations early enough, and by the time everyone's speaking plainly, the window is already closing.
Richarlison's own social media statement was pointed without being petty: "After everything I've been through in the last few years, I've decided that NEVER AGAIN will anyone decide my future for me." He also confirmed he'd have completed the Everton move if terms had been agreed between the clubs — suggesting the obstacle wasn't sentiment, it was the deal structure itself.
Where does he actually go from here?
The options have narrowed sharply. Saudi Pro League — closed. Portugal — closed. Turkey's window shut last Friday after Trabzonspor's interest came too late. That leaves Brazil, where the transfer window closes this Friday.
- Flamengo have been linked previously, and former Spurs teammate Emerson Royal is already there — a genuine connection, not just a rumour.
- Fluminense is where Richarlison built his reputation before Watford came calling in 2017, so there's history.
- Vasco da Gama fans are running a social media campaign — touching, but Vasco's financial situation makes that one largely aspirational.
If nothing materialises before Friday, Richarlison faces the prospect of sitting out his contract — something Danny Rose once did at this exact club. Spurs also hold a contract extension option, which adds another layer of complication if they want to protect his sell-on value. A mutual termination, similar to what happened with Tanguy Ndombele, has been floated — but Richarlison, unlike Ndombele, has clubs genuinely interested. Walking away from his salary without a destination secured would be a significant financial hit for no reason.
The most uncomfortable part of all this isn't the politics or the blame game. It's that a player who gave Tottenham everything last season — carried the attack through injury, declined a lucrative Saudi move to stay, and finished top scorer — now trains away from the group on the same pitches he's used for years, waiting to see if a Brazilian club can get paperwork done before a Friday deadline.
De Zerbi put it plainly enough: "We received an offer before the transfer market closed and he didn't accept. If a player says 'I want to leave, I want to leave, I want to leave', you have to have an offer behind you otherwise what are you doing?"
Friday will answer that. And if no deal arrives, the answer is: four months on the sidelines, international ambitions at risk, and a situation that benefits absolutely no one.
