Richarlison Questions Omission from Tottenham's Squad

Richarlison has taken his frustration public after being left out of Tottenham’s squad for Tuesday night’s Carabao Cup tie against Liverpool, turning a simmering situation into an open stand-off.

The Brazil forward posted a screenshot of a social media update highlighting his omission and added a single-word caption: “Why?” followed by a crying emoji. One word, one symbol – enough to underline how deeply the decision has cut.

His exclusion comes at the end of a turbulent few weeks for the 29-year-old. A move back to Brazil with Vasco da Gama collapsed late, leaving his future in north London hanging in the air. Sources indicated Tottenham and Vasco had agreed a fee, but the deal broke down when personal terms were not settled before the Brazilian transfer window shut on Friday.

So Richarlison stayed. But not, it seems, on the terms anyone wanted.

Roberto De Zerbi did not shy away from the issue when he faced the media on Monday. The Tottenham head coach painted a picture of a player he had tried, and failed, to keep on board.

“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. “I can’t go every day to pray for him to stay.”

The message was blunt. De Zerbi insisted he had done what he could, including putting a longer stay on the table.

“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.”

That line felt decisive. The coach was drawing a boundary, making it clear where his responsibility ends and the club’s – and the player’s – begins.

De Zerbi hinted at deeper issues running through the past month and a half but refused to pull back the curtain.

“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.”

So Tottenham head into a cup tie against Liverpool with a high-profile forward publicly questioning his omission and a manager openly distancing himself from the contract wrangle. The selection call for this one is already made. The next one, and the next window, will say far more about whether Richarlison still has a place in De Zerbi’s Tottenham at all.