Richarlison is the subject of firm interest from Trabzonspor and could move there from Tottenham before the closure of the transfer window in Turkey on Friday night.
The striker has asked to leave, according to the Spurs manager, Roberto De Zerbi, who did not stand in the way of two of his other players who did so before the deadline in England on Tuesday night: Kevin Danso and Pape Sarr. They were allowed to join Sunderland and Juventus respectively on loans with purchase clauses.
after newsletter promotion
De Zerbi said on Saturday after his team’s home loss to Newcastle that Richarlison had requested to leave “too many times” this summer. It looked as if the Brazilian might return to his former club Everton, as Spurs tried to sign Iliman Ndiaye, only for that not to happen. Ndiaye ended up going to Manchester City for £60m plus £5m in add-ons.
Richarlison was emotional when he used social media on Monday evening to say, in essence, that he would not be forced into a move he did not want. He appears to want Trabzonspor and is understood to have agreed personal terms. The 29-year-old, Spurs’ top scorer in the Premier League last season with 11 goals, has one year on his contract with the option of an extra year.
Trabzonspor signed Mohamed Salah on a free from Liverpool over the summer but have endured a bad start, taking four points from three league matches and losing 5-0 on aggregate to Ferencvaros in the Europa League playoff round.