Tottenham Excludes Richarlison from Premier League Squad
Tottenham Hotspur’s Premier League squad list dropped with one name screaming off the page by its absence. Richarlison, last season’s top scorer, is out. Completely.
No caveats, no “working his way back from injury” line. Just gone from the 25-man group.
The 29-year-old, who hit 11 goals in 32 league appearances last term, now finds himself in a stark kind of limbo: under contract, but effectively sidelined from the club’s top-flight plans.
What makes the decision even more brutal is the contrast. Injured players such as Simons and Odobert have been registered, their places protected while they recover. Richarlison, fit but outspoken in his desire to leave, has been cut adrift.
De Zerbi distances himself – and points the finger back
Roberto De Zerbi didn’t try to sugar-coat the situation. He also didn’t pretend this was his personal crusade.
“It was not my decision. It is the normal decision,” the Tottenham head coach said, keen to frame the call as a logical consequence rather than a managerial axe. “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.”
That conversation set the tone for the summer. Once the forward made it clear he wanted out, Spurs moved on.
“At the end we go to bring another striker in,” De Zerbi continued, “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: if you’re not all-in, you’re out.
Club call, not coach’s – but no sympathy
De Zerbi repeatedly stressed that the formal act of leaving Richarlison off the Premier League list lies with the club hierarchy, not the dugout.
“Then for everything and other problems, it is not my business and not my job. It is the responsibility of the club,” he said. “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.”
No attempt to pull him back into the fold. No suggestion of a late rethink. Just acceptance that the bridge has been burned.
From opening-day starter to surplus
The speed of the fall is striking. Richarlison started the opening game of the campaign against Brentford, still apparently part of De Zerbi’s plans, still a key attacking reference point.
Then the market moved.
Omar Marmoush arrived from Manchester City. Mykhailo Mudryk came in on loan from Chelsea. Savio joined from City as well. Each signing nudged Richarlison further down the pecking order, until the list came out and his name wasn’t on it at all.
For a player who led the scoring charts just months ago, it is a brutal recalibration of status.
Only ‘hungry’ players welcome
De Zerbi has been consistent about one thing since taking over: attitude matters as much as ability. He wants edge, not ego.
“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, the irritation clear. “If you don’t want to stay, why do we have to keep you on the list? Why do you have to stay?”
He then drew a hard line between his role and that of the board.
“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.”
That is the standard now. Hungry, proud, committed. Richarlison, by his own stated desire to leave, no longer fits that profile.
Tottenham have made their choice. So has the player. The question now is where a 29-year-old former top scorer, frozen out of the Premier League squad, finds his next stage.
