Richarlison's Omission Sparks Tension at Tottenham
Richarlison’s one-word question cuts through the noise. “Why?”
Typed beneath a screenshot of a post confirming his omission from Tottenham’s squad for the Carabao Cup tie against Liverpool, the Brazil forward’s public reaction laid bare a rift that has been simmering in north London.
This was not a cryptic message or a carefully coded hint. It was a challenge. To Roberto De Zerbi. To the club. Perhaps to his own future at Spurs.
A striker on the outside
Richarlison’s exclusion comes at a delicate moment in his career. A proposed move back to Brazil with Vasco da Gama collapsed last week, leaving him stuck in limbo.
Sources indicated Tottenham and Vasco had reached agreement on a fee for the 29-year-old, only for the deal to stall over personal terms before the Brazilian transfer window shut on Friday. The door closed, the contract unsigned, the player still in London.
So when the squad list for Liverpool dropped without his name, the frustration boiled over on social media. A single word, a tearful emoji, and a very public statement: he does not accept being frozen out quietly.
De Zerbi draws his line
If Richarlison’s message was short, De Zerbi’s response had far more detail – and an edge.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Monday, the Tottenham head coach made it clear he believes he has already done his part.
“At the start of this season, I spoke to him many times to convince him to stay and he didn't want to,” De Zerbi said. “I can't go every day to pray for him to stay.”
That line tells its own story. De Zerbi chasing, persuading, trying to build around a forward who had one eye elsewhere. The coach then went further, revealing the club had put a contract extension on the table.
“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.”
In De Zerbi’s mind, the responsibility has shifted. He tried to keep Richarlison. The player resisted. The club offered longer terms. The answer was no. From that point, the tone of the relationship changed.
A problem behind closed doors
De Zerbi also hinted at deeper issues, ones he is not prepared to air in public.
“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.”
Forty-five days. A specific time frame, and a clear suggestion that recent events – negotiations, conversations, perhaps disagreements over his future – have shaped where Richarlison now stands.
De Zerbi’s refusal to go into detail is telling. He distances himself from the dispute, framing it as an internal matter between Richarlison and Tottenham rather than a personal clash between player and coach. Yet the outcome is visible to everyone: Richarlison is out of the squad for a marquee cup tie at Anfield.
An uneasy truce, or the beginning of the end?
For a forward of Richarlison’s stature, watching from home while his team heads to Liverpool will sting. This is the kind of fixture he was signed to influence. Instead, his most decisive contribution of the week has come via a social media post.
The club tried to move him. He tried to move on. The window shut. Both are now locked together, at least until January.
De Zerbi has planted his flag. Richarlison has asked his question. The next move belongs to Tottenham – and to a striker who must now decide whether he wants to fight his way back into the team, or simply fight his way out of the club.
