Transfer insider Dean Jones has expressed his concerns that Tottenham might sell Kane and use Richarlison as his replacement, claiming that it would be “massive risk”.
Richarlison’s debut season with Tottenham has been far from impressive since his big-money move from Everton last summer. He has managed to find the back of the net just once in the Premier League and three times across all competitions.
Struggling to establish himself as a regular starter, Richarlison has found himself behind the likes of Son Heung-min, Dejan Kulusevski, and Harry Kane in the pecking order.
Richarlison can still come good for Spurs. He has proved at Everton before and with the Brazil national team that he has all the qualities of a fantastic striker. It just has not worked for him at Spurs so far and perhaps much could do with the style of play that was set up under Conte.
It is possible that the new manager and attacking style of play could help the Brazilian find his old form back.
However, while praising the Brazilian and stating that a change of style of play could help him, he expressed his concern that the club could think about using him as Kane’s replacement if he leaves in the summer.
Speaking to Football FanCast, Jones said:
“I think it’d be a massive risk to go with Richarlison as your nine if you’re not replacing Harry Kane when he leaves. But at the same time, Richarlison’s not a bad player, he just hasn’t had a good first year.
It’s not the first player that’s ever gone into a club and not settled straight away. I would still say that there’s a chance Richarlison can come good. If you’re going to bank on him as you’re number nine, you’ve kind of got to change the setup of the team, you’ve got to play a little bit differently.
He might play differently if he was told he was going to be the main man if he wasn’t constantly trying to live up to Harry Kane, then that might change things too.”
Harry Kane’s future remains uncertain following yet another trophy less season from Tottenham. With his contract expiring in the summer, there are strong reports that Manchester United could make a move for him in the summer having made him their top target.
After the game yesterday, he was seen walking around the stadium alone and applauding and waving at the home fans further adding fire to the speculations.
