Richarlison Left Out of Tottenham Squad as De Zerbi Takes a Stand
Tottenham’s Premier League squad list dropped with one name missing in bold.
Richarlison.
The club’s top scorer last season with 11 goals in 32 league appearances is not just out of the team. He is out of the squad altogether, stranded in a kind of professional no-man’s-land while the season gathers pace without him.
Others have been carried along. Injured players like Simons and Odobert have been registered, their spots protected as investments for the months ahead. Richarlison, 29, has not been granted that luxury. His omission is not about fitness. It is about fracture.
“He decided everything alone”
Roberto De Zerbi did not try to disguise the rupture. He rarely does. Asked about the Brazilian’s exclusion, the Tottenham head coach stepped away from the paperwork but not from the principle.
“It was not my decision. It is the normal decision,” he said, laying the responsibility firmly at the player’s door. “I think Richarlison, he decided everything alone. He spoke with me at the beginning of the pre-season and told me his idea and desire was to leave.
“At the end we go to bring another striker in and like I said at the beginning of the pre-season, I want to keep the players, just the players that want to stay and be proud and with the right passion to stay here.”
The message was blunt. Ask out, and you might find the door opened wider than expected.
De Zerbi stressed that the mechanics of the squad list belong to the club’s hierarchy, not his office. “Then for everything and other problems, it is not my business and not my job. It is the responsibility of the club. I can’t say nothing because I didn’t decide anything.
“The message of Richarlison from the beginning of the season has been very clear. I accepted that and for me there is nothing to say.”
Nothing to say, yet everything implied. A player who wanted out has been granted his wish in the harshest possible way: not by a move, but by removal.
From opening-day starter to the outside
The speed of Richarlison’s slide is striking. He began the campaign as a starter against Brentford, a visible part of De Zerbi’s early plans. Within weeks, that status has evaporated.
The transfer window reshaped the attack. Omar Marmoush arrived from Manchester City, Mykhailo Mudryk came in on loan from Chelsea, and Savio joined from City as well. Each signing nudged Richarlison further down the depth chart. Eventually, he slipped off it entirely.
This is not simply a numbers game. De Zerbi has been consistent about the type of dressing room he wants, and his words on Richarlison carried the edge of a manager who will not compromise on that point.
“If you don’t want to stay here, I don’t want to keep talking in the press conference. Go out – you have the freedom to go out,” he said. “If you don’t want to stay, why do we have to keep you on the list? Why do you have to stay?
“I’m not Vinai, I’m not the sporting director, I am the coach and I would like to work with the people hungry if they don’t play but happy to stay in this club.”
The line could not be clearer. Hunger over hierarchy. Commitment over reputation.
A brutal kind of clarity
For Richarlison, this is as stark as it gets. No Premier League registration means no league minutes, no late cameos to reclaim favour, no platform to force his way back into the picture. For a player of his profile and age, it is a brutal stall in momentum.
For Tottenham, it is a statement of intent under De Zerbi. A squad built around those who buy in, not those who bristle. The club has backed that stance by leaving a proven goalscorer out in the cold.
The season will reveal whether this hard-line approach tightens the group or leaves them light on experience when it matters most. For now, the message from the head coach is unmistakable: at Tottenham, wanting out comes with a cost, and Richarlison is paying it in full.
