There has been an ongoing issue in the Tottenham dressing room between Coach De Zerbi and Richarlison.
The 29-year-old has been exiled from the first-team squad and has made only one appearance—starting in Tottenham’s Premier League opener against Brentford—and has not featured or been squad-registered since.
De Zerbi stated that during pre-season he personally tried to convince Richarlison to extend his contract at Tottenham. Once Richarlison rejected the offer and expressed a desire to seek options elsewhere, De Zerbi decided to plan exclusively without him, stating: “I can’t go every day to beg for him to stay.”
Following his refusal to sign an extension, Spurs formally left Richarlison out of their 25-man Premier League squad list for the 2026/27 campaign and relegated him to training with the Under-21s.
Despite Tottenham struggling for goals and Richarlison being eligible for domestic cup games, De Zerbi confirmed he will not feature in any competition—including the Carabao Cup tie against Liverpool—leaving him completely sidelined until the January transfer window.
