Richarlison's Move to Brazil Falls Through: Stuck at Tottenham

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 closing in on a move to boyhood club Vasco da Gama, with the Rio side agreeing a fee with Spurs on Friday. It looked like a clean break: a permanent return home, a way out of a situation that had turned sour in north London.

Then the deal hit the wall. Personal terms could not be agreed, and with the Brazilian transfer window due to close on Saturday, the move is now off. Barring a late twist elsewhere, Richarlison will remain a Tottenham player for the first half of the season — but one who cannot play in the Premier League.

Out of the plans, out of the squad

Tottenham had already made their stance clear. Before the English transfer window shut on September 1, the club told Richarlison he was not in their first-team plans for this campaign.

He had the chance to engineer a return to Everton before deadline day. That never materialised. The consequence was brutal: last week he was left out of Spurs’ 25-man Premier League squad.

Roberto De Zerbi did start him in the league opener at Brentford on August 22, but by then the direction of travel behind the scenes was obvious. Speaking on Friday, the Spurs head coach underlined that this was a situation driven by the player.

“He decided everything alone,” De Zerbi said, referencing Richarlison’s omission from the squad list and the fallout of recent weeks.

Options vanish, one by one

Once the English window closed, Richarlison’s avenues narrowed fast. The markets in Turkey and Saudi Arabia, two potential late lifelines, shut on Friday and Sunday respectively. With Spurs already at their limit of six overseas loan spots, a temporary move abroad was off the table.

That left a permanent switch back to Brazil as one of the few realistic outcomes. Vasco stepped forward, talks progressed, and a fee with Tottenham was agreed. The club where Richarlison came through as a teenager appeared ready to bring him home.

But the final piece — the contract with the player — never fell into place. With time running out before Brazil’s window closes, the deal has collapsed, and Richarlison is now expected to stay put in London, unable to feature in the league but still under contract.

De Zerbi: “He has decided by his own”

De Zerbi cut a firm but regretful figure when asked about the situation in his Friday press conference.

“I don’t know. It’s not my job,” he said when pressed for an update. “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.”

Behind that line was a clear message: the breakdown in the relationship has roots in the player’s conduct over recent weeks.

Richarlison has reportedly been exploring whether the final nine months of his contract at Spurs could be terminated. That would open the door to a free move, but for now no agreement has been reached.

De Zerbi admitted the story “could have ended better” and repeatedly pointed to the last 45 days 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.”

From key man to stand-off

Richarlison joined Spurs from Everton in 2022 and delivered 11 league goals last season, a crucial contribution as the club steered clear of relegation trouble. De Zerbi was quick to stress that his importance should not be erased from memory.

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

That contrast sits at the heart of this saga. An important player, a manager who tried to keep him, a club that once leaned on his goals — and yet a breakdown so complete that he now finds himself outside the Premier League squad, with a move home collapsed and his future parked until January.

“It could have been better,” De Zerbi reflected. “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.”

Instead, Tottenham head into the autumn with a high-profile forward in limbo, and Richarlison faces months on the fringes, watching from the outside as the season moves on without him.