Roberto De Zerbi says Tottenham Hotspur “do not know” whether forward Richarlison will stay at the club as he “sometimes” wants to leave.
The 29-year-old has entered the final year of his contract with the north London club, and scored a stoppage-time winner in Spurs’ 2-1 pre-season win against Chelsea on Saturday.
Speaking after the match, De Zerbi said Tottenham “have to respect” what the Brazil international wants to do this summer and admitted the striker himself is uncertain.
“I don’t know, I didn’t understand well, because sometimes he said to stay, sometimes he leaves,” De Zerbi said.
“We have to speak anyway, there is not any problem, he’s a lovely guy. All of us love him, the team-mates, the club, the staff, because he works hard every day, seriously every day, and we can’t say anything on the pitch.”
Richarlison was the club’s top scorer in the league last season with 11 goals (12 in all competitions), two of which coming after De Zerbi’s appointment in March.
The 47-year-old Italian said he likes Richarlison “as a player, as a guy” and praised his “unbelievable” attitude and behaviour.
“Every one of us knows what he wants to do,” De Zerbi said. “But for me he’s still an important player, because it’s not so easy to find another striker like Richarlison, because Richarlison scores goals and he knows the way.
“The new striker, we don’t know. The other striker, we don’t know. He scored 12 goals last season, not through luck, because he feels the way to score.”
Tottenham have had a busy summer transfer window with Sandro Tonali joining from Newcastle United for £100million ($135m), alongside Mateus Fernandes signing from West Ham in a deal worth £85m ($115m) and Jan Paul van Hecke from Brighton & Hove Albion for £52m ($70m). Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi and Martin Dubravka have all joined on free transfers.
Spurs have yet to recruit a striker in the transfer window, leaving Richarlison and Dominic Solanke their primary options, while academy product Will Lankshear departed in a permanent move to Championship side Middlesbrough.