Should Spurs cash in on forward? | OneFootball

Last night was another one of many horror shows for Spurs as they more than failed to hold onto their one goal advantage in their Carabao Cup semi-final second leg at Anfield by losing 4-0 to Premier League leaders Liverpool, and losing 4-1 on aggregate courtesy of goals from Cody Gakpo, Mohamed Salah, Dominik Szoboszlai and Virgil van Dijk. Spurs gave debuts to Kevin Danso and Mathys Tel, who did well considering the circumstances, with the latter coming on as a substitute towards the end of the first half for Richarlison, who we are going to talk about in this article and whether Spurs should be cashing in on the Brazilian as it seems like he can never get a run of games going.

Richarlison signed for the Lilywhites in July 2022 ahead of the 2022/23 season from fellow Premier League side Everton for sixty million pounds, which was their second highest ever record fee at the time, only behind French midfielder Tanguy Ndombele, another transfer that never worked out for the club. In Richarlison's first season he only started 12 Premier League games and featuring in a further 15 from the bench, scoring 1 goal and getting 3 assists. Stats nowhere near good enough but also missing plenty of games through a calf and hamstring injury. Last campaign the Brazilian international's stats were better, getting 11 goals in the league in only 1510 minutes played. On paper this looks really good, however it does make you wonder how much better his and Spurs' season could have been if he was available for the majority of the season. Spurs narrowly missed out on Champions League football to this weekend's Emirates FA Cup opponents Aston Villa, who they'd have been favourites to achieve this ahead of the Villains, and with Richarlison in the form that he was in, this could have definitely been done if it wasn't for his four (yes four) different injuries. A groin problem, a hamstring injury and two knee injuries.

Spurs fans have been getting frustrated with the 27-year-old but were willing to give him another chance going into this season, he has shown everyone at the club what he can do, and understandably no one wants to see the big money signing go to waste, but there will have to come a time when the club will have to accept it hasn't worked out for the centre forward if things don't change, and this season has only gotten worse. Richarlison has already missed an insane 27 matches through injury this season, and last night went off injured again as he felt his calf this time, being replaced by on loan 19-year-old Mathys Tel, who was brought on sooner than he probably imagined.

This could be the time where manager Ange Postecoglou and chairman Daniel Levy agree to cut their losses on him, he turns 28 in May and whilst that isn't exactly old for a footballer in this day and age, he's had plenty of chances to make his mark in a Spurs shirt. If he's getting these kind of injuries in what should be the prime of his career then what convinces anyone that they're going to improve when he gets into his thirties. Now we must stress that these injuries are in no way, shape or form Richarlison's fault, but it doesn't make it any better for Postecoglou or the Spurs fans, they want their best players available and they want to win games. If Tel does well in his loan spell until the end of the season, then a buy option could be something the club explore, they've got Dominic Solanke who at the minute yes is injured, but overall his record with being sidelined is very solid, and then you've got Mikey Moore who has come through from the academy this season, so there are plenty of options that can play as the front man or on the left in place of the Brazilian. Spurs will also be hoping to be in the transfer market for another attacker during the summer, especially if they can get a decent fee for Richarlison if they do decide to offload him.

I think it would be best for all parties if Richarlison was sold in the summer, Spurs will struggle to move him on enough as it is but if they can get about twenty five million pounds, which would be just under half of what the club paid for him two and a half years ago, I think that would be a fair price, as well as getting his £90,000 a week wages off the books, and the club won't want to lose even more money on him to the point where he runs his contract down and then lose him on a free. The Brazilian probably needs a fresh start somewhere else so he can enjoy his football again, and that way everyone is a winner.