Richarlison's proposed move to Vasco da Gama has collapsed after the Tottenham Hotspur forward failed to agree personal terms with the Brazilian club, according to reports in Brazil.
The 29-year-old was left out of Roberto De Zerbi's squad after rejecting a move to Everton before the transfer deadline, a decision that also caused a separate deal for Iliman Ndiaye to fall through. A switch to Vasco da Gama, the club in his home country, had appeared to be one of his last routes out of Tottenham this summer.
Reports in Brazil say Vasco had expected Tottenham to be open to a deal and that a three-and-a-half-year contract was on offer to Richarlison. However, he is not currently looking to move back to Brazil, and no agreement was reached on personal terms.
Spurs turned to Mudryk after Ndiaye deal collapsed
After the move for Ndiaye fell through, Tottenham signed Mykhailo Mudryk instead. The Ukrainian winger was injured in training this week and is expected to be out for up to two months.
De Zerbi said he had tried to persuade Richarlison to stay at the club. "I am sorry because I have one player less on the list," the Tottenham manager said. "Richarlison is a good guy. I spoke with him a lot and spent time trying to convince him to stay."
"But I know the truth. I know what happened in the last month, the last 45 days and I know the behaviour of Richarlison. And it's clear," De Zerbi added. "I can't explain it because it's not right but I'm sorry because it could have been different and in a different way it could have been better."
Legal action threat over contract
Richarlison, who was Tottenham's top scorer last season with 11 Premier League goals, has been exploring legal action to have the final nine months of his contract nullified amid interest from Brazil.
Tottenham Hotspur are a Premier League club based in north London. De Zerbi, an Italian manager who previously worked with Sassuolo, Shakhtar Donetsk and Brighton & Hove Albion, took charge of Spurs this summer.
Goalless start to the season
Tottenham have not scored in their first three games of the season and did not manage a shot on target in a goalless draw at Nottingham Forest last week.
De Zerbi said he was confident there were enough goals in his squad and challenged Omar Marmoush to take on more responsibility in attack. "Marmoush is playing well," he said. "In Nottingham he played a good game, not a fantastic game, not fantastic with the last decision. But he was alive and in the game. He seemed to be dangerous."
"He is smart, understands football. In terms of goals, he is not Harry Kane but he can score more goals than he has done in the last two seasons," De Zerbi said. "About Manchester City, I don't want to speak because not my experience but at Eintracht Frankfurt he scored lots of goals. If you analyse his qualities he can score more goals and has to demand more goals of himself."
De Zerbi also suggested he could look to pair Marmoush with Dominic Solanke as he searches for the right attacking combination. "They can play together," he said. "When we signed Marmoush we thought he could play with another striker or alone."
