Chadder View: It’s time for Tottenham to cut their losses with Richarlison in January
Matthew Chadder is a lifelong Tottenham fan who grew up just down the road from his beloved club in North London. He’s now putting his passion for Spurs into words with a daily fan view for Tottenham News…
Sometimes you just know things aren’t going to work out for a player at a club, which is precisely the case with Richarlison at Tottenham.
Over the years one of the many things I have found most frustrating about Tottenham – a list which can sometimes be hard to narrow down – is the club’s inability to move on the so-called ‘deadwood.’
More often than not we seem to find ourselves in a situation where unwanted players are running down their contracts and overstaying their welcomes.
Whether that is due to poor management from above, a lack of suitable buyers or simply a player’s unwillingness to leave their position where they are earning a more than handsome salary in the capital of England, either way, it is to the detriment of the club.
The likes of Serge Aurier and Matt Doherty saw their contracts terminated while players such as Eric Dier and Hugo Lloris, both who are in the final year of their contracts, are still around and eating up a sizeable portion of the wage bill.
All-in-all, it is fair to say that Spurs’ recruitment strategy has been very poor in recent seasons. They are very good at handing lucrative contracts to mediocre players, they are just not so good at getting those mediocre players out the door.
Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso both spring to mind and the latest example of this seems to be Richarlison.
Life in north London just hasn’t worked out for the Brazillian since his big-money switch from Everton, and he is threatening to become yet another example of a high-profile signing who ends up offering nothing both on the pitch or in the way of a decent sale fee.
Five goals in 46 games simply isn’t good enough considering the money that was paid to bring him to the club, and although he is clearly a fan favourite who many would love to see succeed, including me, it might be time to accept that is not likely to happen.
Luckily for Spurs and Daniel Levy, there are rumblings that clubs from Saudi Arabia are emerging as possible destinations for the forward in January, a move which could act as a get-out-of-jail-free card.
Clubs from Saudi have been known to splash the cash and would most likely not be opposed to overpaying for the 26-year-old to get a deal across the line. If any offer which is even close to the initial fee Tottenham paid for Richarlison was to come in, they should be taking it without a second thought.
They already took one gamble by signing the striker from Everton, and that gamble hasn’t paid off, it is therefore not worth taking a second gamble and rejecting any offers on the basis that Richarlison might improve and ultimately generate a larger fee in the future.
At the end of the day, that potential risk is not worth the very small chance of a half-decent reward. Richarlison clearly just isn’t right for Tottenham, and if an offer comes in, Levy should be rolling out the red carpet, not negotiating till the very death.
In other Tottenham news, a Spurs expert has predicted that another player at the club might have also reached the end of the road.