Richarlison Omitted from Tottenham's Premier League Squad

Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed their Premier League squad – and the headline is not who made it, but who didn’t.

Richarlison, last season’s top scorer with 11 goals in 32 league games, has been left out entirely. No injury caveat. No late paperwork. Just a clean break from the list, and for now, from Spurs’ plans.

The decision lands hard because of the names that did make it. Injured players like Simons and Odobert are registered and protected for the campaign ahead. Richarlison, 29 and once central to the attack, is not. For a forward who started the opening game of the season against Brentford, the drop-off has been dramatic.

Roberto De Zerbi did not try to dress it up. He also did not pretend it was his call.

“It was not my decision. It is the normal decision,” the Tottenham head coach said when pressed on the omission. “I think Richarlison, he decided everything alone. He spoke with me at the beginning of the pre-season and told me his idea and desire was to leave.”

That conversation set the tone for the summer. Richarlison wanted out. Spurs, reading the situation, moved on.

“At the end we go to bring another striker in,” De Zerbi continued, “and like I said at the beginning of the pre-season, I want to keep the players, just the players that want to stay and be proud and with the right passion to stay here.”

The message is blunt: if your heart is elsewhere, your name will not be on his team sheet – or, in this case, on the official squad list.

De Zerbi repeatedly pushed the administrative side of the decision upstairs, making it clear that registration is not his domain.

“Then for everything and other problems, it is not my business and not my job. It is the responsibility of the club,” he said. “I can't say nothing because I didn't decide anything. The message of Richarlison from the beginning of the season has been very clear. I accepted that and for me there is nothing to say.”

Still, his principles are written all over the outcome. The Italian has hammered home one theme since arriving: harmony over hierarchy, hunger over status. The club’s transfer activity underlines that stance.

Omar Marmoush has come in from Manchester City. Mykhailo Mudryk has arrived on loan from Chelsea. Savio has joined from City as well. Three fresh attacking options, three clear signals that Spurs were preparing for life without Richarlison long before the squad list dropped.

As those forwards walked through the door, the Brazilian’s position slipped from starter to option to afterthought. The Premier League squad announcement simply made it official.

De Zerbi did not hide his irritation with players who want out but still expect to be central to the conversation.

“If you don't want to stay here, I don't want to keep talking in the press conference,” he said. “Go out – you have the freedom to go out. If you don't want to stay, why do we have to keep you on the list? Why do you have to stay?”

He then drew a firm line around his role.

“I'm not Vinai, I'm not the sporting director, I am the coach and I would like to work with the people hungry if they don't play but happy to stay in this club.”

That is the core of it. For De Zerbi, attitude is non‑negotiable. Talent alone does not guarantee a place, not even for last season’s leading scorer.

Richarlison now finds himself in an awkward limbo: under contract, out of the squad, and very clearly out of the manager’s plans. Spurs, meanwhile, march into the season with a new-look attack and a manager who has nailed his colours to the mast.

The door, it seems, has closed. The only question left is where Richarlison walks through the next one.