Tottenham could finally move Richarlison on in January for around €10m, less than half what they wanted in the summer, and Trabzonspor are not done trying.
According to Turkish journalist Yağız Sabuncuoğlu, the Süper Lig side could make a renewed attempt to sign the Brazilian in the next window if the conditions suit them. They are not alone either, with Galatasaray also keen and both Turkish clubs said to be working behind the scenes.
Spurs wanted €20-25m for the 29-year-old a few months ago. The drop tells you where this has ended up: he has not featured this season, he is playing for minutes with the U21s, and his contract runs out at the end of the campaign.
That makes January the last chance for N17 to get a fee for a player they paid £60m for in 2022.
What has to happen for Trabzonspor to sign Richarlison?
Mohamed Salah’s club have a squad problem to fix first. They need to free up a foreign player’s place before they can register him, and Ruslan Malinovskyi and Paul Onuachu are the two named as candidates to be sold.
After that it comes down to Tottenham’s price and Trabzonspor’s squad planning, and most likely how much money they have to spend. None of that is settled, which is why this is still a “could” rather than a done deal.
The presence of Galatasaray helps Spurs here. A second interested club is about the only thing stopping the buyer dictating terms to a seller who needs the player gone by the end of January.
How did it go so wrong for him at Spurs?
The summer was a mess from start to finish. Trabzonspor were pushing to get a deal done before the Turkish window closed on 4 September, and Roberto De Zerbi said after the home defeat by Newcastle that the forward had asked to leave “too many times” that summer. He was then left out of the Premier League squad.
Vasco da Gama came next. Reports in Brazil said talks with Tottenham were well advanced, but Richarlison would not sign the three-and-a-half-year contract Vasco offered, even with a clause allowing him to leave in January. The club walked away, and he was left where he is now, out of De Zerbi’s core plans.
Who gains from a Tottenham exit in January?
A forward who is not in the squad still sits on the wage bill, and his situation has already cost Spurs once. The summer move for Marseille’s Amine Gouiri fell through because they could not offload Richarlison or Dominic Solanke, and a January return for Gouiri depends on the same domino.
The club are not looking to sell Solanke, so Richarlison is the one who has to go. It matters as well, given that only one of the seven goals in the last three wins came from a striker. De Zerbi could use a forward he actually trusts, and clearing Richarlison out is the first step towards getting one.
Is €10m a fair price for Richarlison?
It is a long way short of what he cost, but that money went a long time ago. The choice Spurs face in January is simple: €10m and a clear path to a new forward, or nothing at all when his deal expires.
We would take it, and we would not hold out for much more. The one thing Tottenham cannot afford is a repeat of the summer, when the talking went on until every deadline had passed. If Trabzonspor clear that foreign place and Galatasaray stay interested, this should be finished early in the window.
