Former Everton fan favourite Richarlison played his first game since the transfer window closed in the EFL Trophy at Cheltenham
At the start of what proved to be Richarlison’s final season at Everton, he was given a hero’s welcome on his return to Finch Farm after winning an Olympic gold medal with Brazil, but now, as an outcast at Tottenham Hotspur, he finds himself rotting in the reserves and on the receiving end of a penalty shoot-out defeat at Cheltenham Town.
The handsome and historic Gloucestershire spa town on the edge of the Cotswolds, with its plethora of Regency buildings, is of course a pleasant spot, but it’s certainly not where the former Blues fan favourite would have expected to have been playing at this stage of his career.
After netting the famous winner against Everton manager Frank Lampard’s former club Chelsea on May 1, 2022, when Jordan Pickford made his save of the season to deny Cesar Azpilicueta – a stop that Lampard hailed as the best of the Premier League era – Richarlison also struck the equaliser in the Blues’ dramatic 3-2 comeback victory over Crystal Palace later that month to secure their top flight status.
However, with Goodison Park chiefs looking to avoid a PSR rule breach, he was sold to Spurs that summer with Everton chairman Bill Kenwright left upset that Daniel Levy had him over a barrel to exploit the situation and acquire his prize asset for less than market price as they thrashed out a deal while dining at Scott’s seafood restaurant in Mayfair which features an oyster and champagne bar.
To add insult to injury, the Blues breached anyway and in time would pick up the first of their brace of points deductions in 2023/24 as punishment but now it’s Richarlison who has been left with a bad taste in his mouth. In the final days of the summer transfer window, it looked like a dramatic Everton return was on the cards, but he was unable to agree personal terms, with Iliman Ndiaye choosing Manchester City over Tottenham also muddying the waters.
Subsequent proposed switches to Turkish club Trabzonspor, from whom the Blues signed Kevin Campbell in 1999, and where former Liverpool star Mohamed Salah now plies his trade, plus Rio de Janeiro-based Vasco da Gama in his Brazilian homeland, both failed to materialise and the bubbly character who was always a popular figure on and off the pitch with Evertonians – even when he was scoring goals against them after leaving – now finds himself as something of a persona non grata in north London.
The ECHO understands there were rumblings among the former Tottenham players when Richarlison was the only member of the first team squad not to attend a recent dinner in their honour – and it wasn’t just their hungry stomachs – but crucially when it comes to carrying out his profession, having featured in just 68 minutes of Premier League football this term in the 3-0 defeat at Brentford on August 22, he is no longer eligible to turn out in the competition after being left out of their 25-man squad by manager Roberto De Zerbi.
Spurs sit second bottom of the table and with just three goals they are currently the top flight’s lowest scorers but the decision from the Italian means they are unable to call upon the 29-year-old who was their leading marksman last season having netted on a dozen occasions.
Therefore, an EFL Trophy group game at Whaddon Road – or the EV Charger Points Stadium – as it is currently known for sponsorship reasons – provided Richarlison with some much-needed competitive action, even if there were just 1,731 spectators in attendance. Wearing his number nine squad number, the former Goodison Park ace stood out as the lowest other number in the side was 48 sported by centre-back Alfie Dorrington while 17-year-old striker Oliver Boast.
With youngster Boast leading the line, Richarlison was deployed on the left wing where he spent prolonged periods at Everton and he did his job, scoring Spurs’ first goal in a 2-2 draw with a right-foot shot on 56 minutes after being picked out by James Rowswell’s cross. He also slotted in the visitors’ fifth spot-kick in the resultant penalty shoot-out, which they lost 7-6.
It seems the January transfer window and a potential escape route can’t come soon enough. Tottenham have just one more group match in this competition before then, against Oxford United at the Kassam Stadium on November 24, for Richarlison to put himself in the shop window again.