Richarlison’s Push for Vasco Transfer Hits a Wall at Tottenham
Richarlison’s summer of frustration has reached its sharpest point yet – and Tottenham Hotspur are refusing to blink.
The Brazilian forward has been pushing hard to seal a return to Vasco Da Gama, the club where he first broke through, with reports in Brazil on Thursday claiming the 29-year-old had already agreed personal terms. He has even been trying to have his Spurs contract cancelled to smooth the way home.
Time is his enemy. The Brazilian transfer window shuts on Friday night. Every hour now matters.
A transfer window of near-misses
This is not the first move that has slipped through Richarlison’s fingers in recent weeks.
Tottenham tried to move him on late in the English summer window, attempting to use him in a swap deal for Iliman Ndiaye. The plan was bold: Richarlison to Everton, Ndiaye to Spurs. It collapsed when the Brazilian couldn’t agree personal terms with his former club.
That failure had a ripple effect. Tottenham missed out on Ndiaye, who went to Manchester City instead, while Roberto De Zerbi’s side turned to Chelsea winger Mykhaylo Mudryk, bringing him in on loan with an option to buy.
After that, a possible switch to Trabzonspor in the Turkish Super Lig also failed to materialise. Vasco Da Gama then emerged as the clearest route out. For Richarlison, it looked like a lifeline.
Contract stand-off at Spurs
Instead, he finds himself locked in a dispute with his current employers.
BBC Sport reported on Thursday evening that Richarlison and Tottenham are at odds over the remaining nine months of his contract. The forward is “exploring his options” and “keen to be released from his deal”, but Spurs have drawn a firm line: they will not simply let him walk away for nothing.
Talks between the club and the player’s representatives are ongoing and the situation has “escalated in recent days”. Richarlison wants an agreement that would free him to join Vasco as a free agent. Tottenham do not see that as remotely realistic.
There is another complication. Spurs hold a 12‑month option to extend his deal until the end of next season. That extra leverage only hardens their stance. The club are unwilling to negotiate a financial settlement over the remainder of his contract, leaving Richarlison stuck between his desire to leave and a board that will not tear up an asset.
De Zerbi turns the page
Amid the off-field wrangling, Roberto De Zerbi has already mentally moved on.
The Spurs head coach revealed a telling pre-season conversation with Richarlison, one that now frames the entire saga.
“At the beginning of pre-season I spoke to Richarlison and asked him if he wanted to extend his contract because I was happy to keep him with us,” De Zerbi said. “He didn’t want to.”
The Italian did not hide his admiration for the player.
“So, Richarlison is a good player, yes. He was important last season, yes, very important. He’s a good guy, yes. But in the end, I had to stop myself putting pressure on the players if the players show me they want to leave.
“I’m sorry for him, but we have to go to another page and work with Dominic Solanke and Omar Marmoush.”
That is the reality now. De Zerbi has shifted his focus to Solanke and Marmoush, building an attack without Richarlison at the centre of it.
The Brazilian, meanwhile, waits. Vasco are ready. The window is closing. Tottenham will not release him. Something has to give – but will it happen before Brazil’s deadline slams shut?
