Richarlison Stuck at Tottenham After Failed Move to Vasco da Gama
Richarlison’s proposed escape route back to Brazil has collapsed, leaving the forward stuck at Tottenham and frozen out of the Premier League picture until at least January.
The Brazil international had been in talks over a permanent move to boyhood club Vasco da Gama, but the deal has fallen apart after he failed to agree personal terms, the Press Association understands. Vasco had reached an agreement over a fee with Spurs on Friday, only for negotiations with the player to hit a dead end.
That leaves Richarlison in limbo. Tottenham made it clear to him before the English window closed that he was not part of the first-team plans for this season, and his omission from the club’s 25-man Premier League squad last week underlined that stance.
He had tried to engineer a return to Everton before the September 1 deadline, but that move never materialised. As other markets shut — Turkey’s on Friday, Saudi Arabia’s on Sunday — his options narrowed sharply. With Spurs having already used all six of their overseas loan slots, a permanent switch back to Brazil looked like one of the last realistic exits.
Instead, with the Brazilian transfer window due to close on Saturday, Richarlison is now expected to stay at Tottenham for the first half of the campaign, unable to play league football and with his future still clouded in uncertainty.
Head Coach Comments
Head coach Roberto De Zerbi, who started Richarlison in the club’s Premier League opener at Brentford on August 22, has been blunt about how the saga has unfolded.
Speaking on Friday, he 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.”
De Zerbi had previously revealed that the 29-year-old “decided everything alone” after being left out of the Premier League squad, suggesting the forward’s own choices over the last six weeks had shaped the outcome.
Richarlison has reportedly explored whether the final nine months of his contract could be terminated, underlining just how badly he wants out. He joined Tottenham from Everton in 2022 and hit 11 league goals last season, a crucial contribution in keeping the club up.
De Zerbi did not hide his disappointment at how the relationship has unravelled, but he was clear where he felt the responsibility lay.
“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 for now: a key figure in last season’s survival bid, now sidelined from the Premier League and waiting for January to offer him a way back into the spotlight.
