Look, let’s be real here. Tottenham Hotspur need to sell some players, and one of those players they need to sell is probably Richarlison. I like Richarlison. I think he’s a great hold-up player, a physical presence in the box, and an all-around great dude. But he’s up there in age and wages, and just can’t stay healthy. Spurs are in the process of rebuilding around a fitter, younger core and as big a fan as I am of Pombo at a certain point we just have to let him go.
So this perked up my ears a bit — a report from Brazilian outlet Terra says Palmeiras’ president is personally negotiating with Spurs in order to sign Richarlison and bring him back to his home country.
Now, if you’re looking for reasons to be skeptical about this story — and you’re a Carty Free reader, I’ve beaten this into you over the years, you should be — you’ll find them. For starters, Tottenham are said to want £55m for Richy, and that feels like a price that’s going to be WAY out of the league of any Campeonato Brasileiro club. The article actually addresses this head on, saying that Palmeiras president Leila Pereira is planning on using some of the proceeds they earned from participating in the Club World Cup to finance a deal.
That’s still a ton of cash, but it’s likely Tottenham wouldn’t demand £55m anyway, especially if it’s for a Brazilian team and Richarlison were convinced to go. Richy is under contract until 2027, but the PSR break even price for him is probably somewhere around £20m. Negotiations are negotiations, but if I’m Spurs I’m strongly considering accepting if they get anything much over that price.
The big(ger) issue is whether Richy would want to do this. He only recently rejoined the Brazilian national team setup and he definitely wants to be part of the Brazil squad in the World Cup next summer. It’s an open question as to what would be more valuable to him in that regard — fewer minutes in England or a higher level club, or a key player for a Campeonato team.
Terra says Pereira has been trying to convince Richy to come back home for the past two weeks, and that Flamengo also made an approach which ultimately went nowhere. Palmeiras are super ambitious in this window, making eight signings including Vitor Roque, but Brazilian’s former No. 9 would be the cherry on top.
I don’t know. It’s a little difficult for me to adequately evaluate this rumor based on the source, but there’s a lot in here that feels plausible to me. Having Richy stick around another season would be great and fun but I have a feeling he also wants more than that. We know he’s ambitious. We know there’s a World Cup coming up. Leaving Spurs for Palmeiras almost makes too much sense.