Richarlison has been praised for his “immaculate” attitude after the Tottenham forward made a surprise appearance and scored for the club’s under-21s on Tuesday night.
The 29-year-old Brazil international has not played for Spurs’ senior side since an opening-day defeat at Brentford on 22 August. He was left out of the 25-man Premier League squad list after being told he was not part of first-team plans for this season.
Failed moves to Trabzonspor and Vasco da Gama, following the collapse of talks with Everton in the final days before the transfer window in England shut, have left Richarlison in limbo for the first half of the campaign.
His outing came in the Jersey Mike’s (EFL) Trophy tie at Cheltenham, where he scored a first-time finish in the 56th minute in what finished a 2-2 draw. Richarlison also converted a spot-kick as Wayne Burnett’s side lost the penalty shootout 7-6. After his goal, Tottenham’s academy players joined him in performing his pigeon celebration.
The Cheltenham manager, Steve Cotterill, said he had been taken aback by the forward’s presence. “We weren’t expecting it, but it was good. When I found out he was on the team sheet, I was actually chuffed with that. I was really pleased. It gives our lads a glimpse of what it’s like at that top level,” Cotterill said.
“To be fair to him, with a lot of talk about our lads playing against him, Richarlison’s attitude was immaculate tonight. He was really, really good and his attitude was great. He could have easily come down here and thought: ‘I am not too bothered about tonight.’ We had a decent crowd here, but he’s used to playing in front of 60,000 every week – when he gets picked anyway! It was great for our lads to play against someone of his stature. It’s good and I really enjoyed tonight.”
Richarlison later posted on Instagram: “Happy to do what I love the most in life. I was missing it!”
Roberto De Zerbi and the rest of the Spurs squad are in Marbella for warm weather training.