Richarlison Questions De Zerbi's Decision Amid Tottenham Tensions
Richarlison’s future at Tottenham took another sharp twist after the Brazilian publicly questioned Roberto de Zerbi’s decision to leave him out of the squad for the Carabao Cup tie against Liverpool.
The 29-year-old forward, already walking a tightrope in north London after a failed move back to Brazil, reacted in real time on social media. He shared a screenshot highlighting his omission and added a single word: “Why?” followed by a tearful, sad-faced emoji. No explanation. No filter. Just a raw, public challenge to his manager’s call.
For a player whose status at the club has grown increasingly fragile, it felt like a flashpoint.
A transfer that never was
Richarlison had looked set for an escape route. Vasco da Gama pushed to take him back to Brazil, and sources indicated Tottenham and the Rio club reached an agreement over a fee. The structure was there, the path seemingly clear.
Then the deal stalled where so many modern transfers do: personal terms. With no agreement in place before the Brazilian transfer window closed on Friday, the move collapsed. The forward stayed. The uncertainty did too.
In that context, his omission from a high-profile cup tie at Anfield cuts deeper than a routine rotation call. For a player trying to reboot his career, not even making the squad stings.
De Zerbi draws a line
Roberto de Zerbi did not hide behind vague explanations when asked about the situation before the Liverpool game. He painted a picture of a manager who felt he had already gone the extra mile.
“At the start of this season, I spoke to him many times to convince him to stay and he didn't want to,” De Zerbi said in his pre-match news conference on Monday. “I can't go every day to pray for him to stay.”
The Italian stressed that Tottenham had not simply frozen Richarlison out without dialogue. Quite the opposite. He said he had even pushed for a longer commitment.
“What I have done at the beginning of this season has been to speak with him and to propose an extension of the contract. If he said, 'no thank you,' I finished my job.”
Those words land heavily. De Zerbi is effectively saying the onus was on the player, and the player chose distance.
The coach then hinted at deeper issues behind the scenes over the last month and a half.
“I know what happened in the last 45 days. It's not right if I explained. It's not my behaviour. The relationship, the problem is between the player and the club.”
No details, but a clear message: this is bigger than a single squad decision.
A relationship at breaking point
The picture now is of a fractured triangle – player, manager, club – with each side pulling in a different direction.
Richarlison’s social media post shows a man who feels wronged or at least baffled. De Zerbi’s comments show a manager who believes he has already done his part. The club, for its part, sanctioned talks with Vasco da Gama and agreed a fee, only to see the move collapse at the final hurdle.
All of it leaves Tottenham with an awkward reality. They have a high-profile, international striker under contract, unhappy, publicly questioning selection, and with his most concrete route out of the club now closed until at least the next window.
For De Zerbi, every squad list from here on will carry an extra layer of scrutiny. Does he bring Richarlison back into the fold and try to repair the relationship, or does this week mark the start of a long, cold separation?
Tottenham’s season will move on quickly. The Carabao Cup tie against Liverpool will come and go. But the image of Richarlison asking “Why?” into the void, and a manager refusing to lift the lid on “what happened in the last 45 days,” lingers.
Something has to give. The only question is whether it happens on the pitch in a Spurs shirt, or somewhere far away from north London.
