Richarlison's Frustration: A Public Snub in Tottenham's Cup Squad

Richarlison’s one-word question cuts through all the noise.

“Why?”

The Tottenham forward posted the message alongside a screenshot highlighting his omission from Roberto De Zerbi’s squad for Tuesday night’s Carabao Cup tie against Liverpool, adding a tearful, sad-faced emoji. It was not subtle. It was not meant to be.

At a club already juggling transition and expectation, Richarlison has chosen to make his frustration public.

Public snub, private tension

Being left out of a domestic cup squad is rarely headline material on its own. But context turns this into a flashpoint.

Richarlison’s future in north London has been clouded for weeks. A proposed move to Vasco da Gama collapsed late in the Brazilian window, leaving the 29-year-old in limbo. Sources indicated Tottenham and Vasco had reached agreement on a fee, only for the deal to stall when personal terms were not wrapped up before Friday’s deadline.

So when De Zerbi omitted him from the group to face Liverpool, the decision landed on an already raw situation. The Brazilian’s social media post made clear he did not see this as routine rotation.

This is a player who expected a fresh start. Instead, he finds himself on the outside, asking questions in front of millions.

De Zerbi draws the line

If Richarlison’s message was short, De Zerbi’s response carried more detail and a clear edge.

“At the start of this season, I spoke to him many times to convince him to stay and he didn't want to,” the head coach said in his pre-match press conference on Monday.

“I can't go every day to pray for him to stay.

“What I have done at the beginning of this season has been to speak with him and to propose an extension of the contract. If he said, 'no thank you,' I finished my job.”

That last line felt decisive. De Zerbi framed his role as offering a path, not begging a player to walk it. Once Richarlison declined, the coach moved on.

The Italian then hinted at deeper issues without opening the door fully.

“I know what happened in the last 45 days. It's not right if I explained. It's not my behaviour. The relationship, the problem is between the player and the club.”

With that, De Zerbi pushed the spotlight away from the dugout and back onto the wider structure at Tottenham. The coach made it clear he will not air internal disputes, but he also made no attempt to disguise that something significant has unfolded behind the scenes.

A broken pathway

The failed Vasco move sits at the centre of this storm. For Richarlison, it looked like a route home, a chance to reset his career and step away from the scrutiny that has followed him in England. For Tottenham, it appeared to be a clean solution: a fee agreed, a player who wanted out, a window still open in Brazil.

Then the clock ran down, personal terms went unresolved, and the door slammed shut.

The fallout is now playing out in real time. A striker who did not want to commit to a new contract finds himself stuck at a club where the head coach has already mentally moved beyond him. A manager who tried to persuade him to stay now feels no obligation to rebuild the bridge.

And in the middle, a relationship that De Zerbi openly describes as a problem “between the player and the club.”

Where next?

Richarlison’s post is unlikely to be the last word. Public dissent rarely ends with a single message. It usually signals a deeper fracture that either forces a resolution or festers.

Tottenham, juggling a demanding schedule and a squad still being reshaped, must now decide how to handle a high-profile forward who feels sidelined and unheard. De Zerbi has drawn his boundary. The club’s hierarchy may soon have to draw theirs.

The Brazilian window is shut. The question now is not whether Richarlison leaves this week.

It’s whether this relationship can survive until the next one opens.