Tottenham will not let Richarlison depart on the cheap this summer as football.london understands the Brazilian's contract situation is not as pressing as presumed.
The 29-year-old striker finally put aside the injury problems that had dogged his time at Spurs since his £60million move from Everton back in 2022 to make 43 appearances last season and score 12 goals as the north London club's top scorer. Those goals were needed as his fellow forward Dominic Solanke suffered his own injury nightmare of a campaign.
Richarlison has continued to find the back of the net in pre-season but Roberto De Zerbi told football.london out in Sydney during the club's summer tour that he is unsure what will happen with the Brazil international in this transfer window because, quite simply, he cannot make up his mind whether he wants to stay or not.
"I don't know, because I like him as a player, as a guy, it's unbelievable the attitude and behaviour, but at the end we have to respect what he wants to do," said the Tottenham boss. "And we know, every one of us knows what he wants to do, 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."
When asked to clarify if that meant Richarlison wants to leave, De Zerbi responded: "I don't know, I didn't understand well, because sometimes he said to stay, sometimes he leaves. 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."
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Richarlison has been linked with a return to Brazil, with Flamengo regularly tipped to take him back home, while his former Watford and Everton boss Marco Silva is now in charge of Benfica and has a strong relationship with the attacker.
Everton and their fans have always retained a soft spot for Richarlison. football.london understands that the Toffees registered their interest with Tottenham earlier in the summer but have not been in contact since regarding their former striker with an actual bid.
There is also Richarlison's contract to take into account. He signed a five-year deal back in 2022 when he made his then club record move from Everton. That means people now naturally assume that it has just over 10 months remaining on it, thus interested parties could sign him for a cheaper fee this summer or get him for free next year.
However, football.london understands that Spurs have an option in that original deal to extend Richarlison's contract by a further 12 months if they want, which protects them this summer against anyone looking to sign the Brazil striker on the cheap.
His future will be decided in the coming weeks, with De Zerbi looking to sign new attackers before the window closes on September 1. Richarlison continues to find the back of the net, but whether he would remain the Italian's go-to centre forward is less certain.