Tottenham Hotspur urged to cut ties with Richarlison in the upcoming January transfer window
After a bright start to the new campaign, Tottenham forward Richarlison is once again struggling to make a consistent impact for his team. The Brazilian has now gone five games without a goal in all competitions, and his place in Thomas Frank’s starting eleven is already under scrutiny. In recent fixtures, Mathys Tel has been preferred to lead the line for the North London club in the Premier League.
The inconsistency in Richarlison’s performances should come as no surprise to the Spurs faithful. Since arriving at N17, the 28-year-old has failed to find any sort of sustained goal-scoring form. For the hefty price Tottenham paid for him in 2022, the striker has yet to deliver a return worthy of that investment. Every season, his place in the squad becomes a topic of debate among supporters.
Richarlison faces an uphill battle of turning his fortunes around at Tottenham.
During the summer transfer window, Richarlison was heavily linked with a move away after falling down the pecking order under former boss Ange Postecoglou. However, Thomas Frank opted to hand him one final opportunity to prove his worth, naming him as the club’s first-choice striker at the start of the season. Yet, despite scoring a brace on the opening day, the Brazilian has failed to capitalise on that chance.
Richarlison living on borrowed time at Tottenham
Richarlison has never quite rediscovered the form he showed during his time at Everton, where he was the focal point of the attack and carried the Toffees on his shoulders. Since his switch to Tottenham, he has struggled to replicate that same influence or justify the club’s significant outlay in 2022.
Now, John Wenham believes that the prolific striker is living on borrowed time at Spurs and a January exit is the most likely solution. Speaking to Tottenham News, Wenham said,
“If he were to leave next summer, he’d only have one year left on his contract. I think that’s a sensible time for all parties for him to move. The only complication to that is that he will be hoping to feature and be the leading striker for Brazil at the World Cup next summer as well. So it might be that January is a more realistic time for him to move. Dominic Solanke will be coming back into the team.”
The Lilywhite Rose owner added,
“Mathys Tel started and scored away at Leeds. Randal Kolo Muani is at the club. So, say it could be in January, just with that World Cup in the summer and he won’t want the distraction of a move and a move of country, and everything could be a more sensible time for that to happen.”
As Wenham points out, a summer exit may not be ideal for Richarlison, given the World Cup on the horizon. A January move could therefore suit both the player and the club, with Tottenham already having Mathys Tel, Dominic Solanke, and Randal Kolo Muani ready to take on greater roles in the second half of the campaign.
All eyes will now be on Richarlison as he attempts to turn his situation around in the coming months. There is still time for him to revive his Spurs career under Thomas Frank, especially with Solanke still recovering from an ankle injury. The Brazilian is expected to start in Tottenham’s upcoming Champions League clash against AS Monaco — a golden opportunity to impress Frank and secure his place in the starting lineup once again.