Richarlison's Transfer Collapse Leaves Him Stuck at Tottenham

Richarlison’s proposed return to Brazil has collapsed, leaving the forward stuck in limbo at Tottenham and frozen out of the Premier League picture until at least January.

The Brazil international had been in talks over a move to boyhood club Vasco da Gama, with a fee agreed between the clubs on Friday. But the deal has fallen apart after he failed to agree personal terms, the Press Association understands.

Tottenham had already made their stance clear. Before the English transfer window shut on September 1, Richarlison was told he was not part of the first-team plans for this season. When a late move back to former club Everton failed to materialise, the clock began to tick on his options.

The real blow came last week when he was left out of Spurs’ 25-man Premier League squad. That decision effectively ruled him out of league action until the winter window and pushed him towards the exit.

With the windows in Turkey and Saudi Arabia closing on Friday and Sunday respectively, his escape routes narrowed quickly. Spurs have already filled their six overseas loan slots, so any late switch needed to be a permanent one. Brazil, and Vasco, suddenly looked like the only realistic way out.

For a brief spell, it seemed the solution had arrived. Vasco stepped up, talks advanced, and a fee was agreed. Then it stalled. Personal terms proved the stumbling block and, with the Brazilian window set to shut on Saturday, Richarlison is now expected to stay at Tottenham for the first half of the season, despite being ineligible for Premier League duty.

Coach's Comments

Head coach Roberto De Zerbi, who started Richarlison in the league opener at Brentford on August 22, has been adamant that the player bears responsibility for how the saga has unfolded.

Speaking on Friday, when asked for an update, De Zerbi said: “I don’t know. It’s not my job. What I can say is I know very well what the club has done for Richarlison and I know very well what Richarlison has done for the club in the last month, two months.

“I know, the club knows, he knows, his agent knows. Everyone knows better than you (the media).”

Richarlison has reportedly explored whether the final nine months of his contract could be terminated, underlining how determined he was to force an exit. He joined Spurs from Everton in 2022 and hit 11 league goals last season, a key contribution as the club avoided relegation.

De Zerbi did not hide his disappointment at how the relationship has unravelled, repeatedly pointing to Richarlison’s behaviour over the past month and a half as decisive.

“I’m sorry because I have one player less on the list,” he said. “Richarlison is a good guy, a very good guy. I spoke with him a lot of times and I spent time to convince him to stay, but if you ask me, I know the truth.

“I know what happened in the last month, the last 45 days and it’s clear, but I’m not frustrated.

“If I had decided myself to leave him outside of the squad, I would have regrets, but the decision has not even been taken by the club. It has been a consequence of what I told you already that he has decided by his own.

“I’m sorry because it could be different. Even the end of the story, but a different way, I think.

“It could have been better, or it was much better Richarlison inside of the list, Richarlison happy to stay, maybe to extend his contract, because he is still an important player.

“He was important last season, we can’t forget, but we can’t forget also the last 45 days.”

So Richarlison stays, at least on paper. Out of the Premier League squad, short of options abroad, and with a move home to Vasco gone cold at the last moment, he now faces an awkward, uncertain stretch in north London.