Anthony Onifade

Sat 12 August 2023 13:10, UK

Tottenham legend Harry Kane has sealed his move to Bayern Munich leaving a gaping hole in the attacking weaponry and the 2023/24 campaign could be a real test of Richarlison’s mettle in filling those shoes.

The German giants confirmed the signing of Kane on Saturday 12 August, while Tottenham also announced that they were forced to reluctantly allow the England record goalscorer to leave the club after he declared his desire for a new challenge and refusal to extend his one-year deal.

Kane has been Tottenham’s main man since he burst onto the scene during the 2014/15 campaign and the England captain has been irreplaceable ever since as Ange Postecoglou now faces one of the biggest jobs in football right now, replacing his goals.

Spurs will certainly be hell-bent on replacing Kane with a plethora of top-quality strikers around Europe already linked with a move to North London.

However, providing the unfortunate scenario that Postecoglou fails to replace the Englishman immediately, his next best solution certainly falls on the shoulders of Richarlison, who has so far failed to set the Tottenham Hotspur stadium alight since his £60m move from Everton in the summer of 2022.

The Brazillian scored just one Premier League goal in his first full season with the club while providing four assists.

Despite scoring twice in the Champions League and impressing at the World Cup – winning the goal of the tournament for his audacious acrobatic finish against Serbia – it just hasn’t clicked with his club and the new 2023/24 campaign could well be the biggest of his career to date as it presents a serious test of his mettle and long-held ambition to become one of Europe’s best strikers.

Luck has often gone against the former Everton and Watford man as he saw three of his goals ruled out for marginal offsides by VAR coupled with a number of injuries at crucial spells during last season for Spurs.

Richarlison’s limited minutes also didn’t help his case, making just 12 league starts all season [Transfermarkt] while playing second-fiddle to Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min.

However, now that Kane isn’t there, it’s time for the Brazilian to make a name for himself, starting against Brentford in their Premier League opener on Sunday 13 August at the Gtech Community Stadium.

The Brazilian has no excuses, he’s now a seasoned Premier League footballer, set to undergo his seventh season in the English top-flight, and he knows what it takes to score goals at the top level, having done it for Brazil and also during his best goal-scoring campaigns for Everton during the 2018/19 campaign and the following season scoring 26 goals combined, registering five assists.

Throughout his seven years in the English top-flight, Richarlison has managed 49 goals and 22 assists from 200 games, and the Tottenham faithful will be expecting him to continue his progression this coming season as the club desperately need goals from several avenues with Kane now an unfortunate memory.

With Postecoglou already implementing his progressive and attack-minded new system at the club, Richarlison already possesses the trait to thrive within it, giving him the perfect foundations to build from.

Incoming Tottenham manager Postecoglou is known to play high-pressing football, which is something the Tottenham number nine can provide and is often known for doing.

Stats provided by FBREF back this up. Compared to his positional peers in the Premier League, Richarlison won 1.43 tackles per 90, placing him in the 87th percentile for this particular statistic. He also challenged 2.41 dribbles per 90 and tackled 1.07 dribbles per 90, placing him in the top 10 percentile in regard to both of these statistics.

On top of this, he also finds himself in the top ten percentile for tackles in his defensive third, having attempted 1.16 per 90.

There’s no doubt that the quality is there in the Brazilian, but the consistency department is where he lacks and an area where Postecoglou will be personally working with him on, to ultimately perfect in the coming months.

With a consistent run in the side and aggression that suits new boss Postecgolou, there is no reason Richarlison cannot make a positive impact at Tottenham next season.

Kane has now departed the club, which places most of the spotlight on Richarlison. Can the Brazilian deliver when the Tottenham faithful are expecting and demanding it most?

In other Tottenham news, the North Londoners have held discussions internally to sign one Premier League-linked European defender.