Richarlison is frozen out of Tottenham’s Premier League squad and has now brought in lawyers to investigate whether he can break his contract with the club. Brazilian sources believe the situation is untenable – and point to a former Premier League star’s brutal break as a possible precedent.
Richarlison has taken his conflict with Tottenham Hotspur to a whole new level. According to TEAMtalk, the Brazilian striker has consulted lawyers to assess whether he can terminate his contract and leave the club for free.
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The Brazilian is now exploring whether he can argue that Tottenham are depriving him of the right to practise his profession. The background is that Roberto De Zerbi mercilessly chose to leave the 29-year-old out of the club’s Premier League squad – meaning he risks months without first-team football.
Has had meetings with lawyers
Sources are said to know that Richarlison and his representatives have been in talks with a team of lawyers to investigate whether there is a way to cancel the Spurs contract via FIFA.
Tottenham in no way accept that he has grounds for leaving the club. But Richarlison himself believes that the situation he is in is untenable.
The 29-year-old was left out of Tottenham’s Premier League squad after he turned down a return to Everton in the transfer window. That decision reportedly infuriated Spurs.
Everything was in place for Richarlison to return to his former club. Tottenham wanted to get rid of him after making it clear that he was not part of the plans – and De Zerbi had approved the transfer.
But Richarlison decided he didn’t want to go. Now he’s paying the price: The omission from the Premier League squad means he won’t be able to play in the league again until January at the earliest.
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Tottenham very frustrated
Tottenham very frustrated with the situation. The club was prepared to let Richarlison go, and had already arranged for his departure – only to be rejected by the player himself.
Now the dispute could end up in court. Richarlison’s camp will study the case of his compatriot Renan Lodi closely. Lodi took unilateral action against Al-Hilal after being left out of their registered squad in Saudi Arabia – and succeeded.
Will follow the Lodi example
Lodi terminated his contract with the Saudi Arabian club in September 2025 after being left out due to the league’s restrictions on foreign players.
The defender claimed that he had been trying for several weeks to find an amicable solution with Al-Hilal, but that he did not receive a response – until he decided to assert his rights as an employee.
Al-Hilal later confirmed receiving Lodi’s dismissal, after he had travelled to Brazil and threatened legal action to protect the club’s interests. That matter is now clearly on Richarlison’s radar.
The Tottenham striker’s argument is that being tied to a club while being prevented from playing can amount to being deprived of the opportunity to practice one’s profession.
Spurs strongly disagree. But according to TEAMtalk, Richarlison is now taking the matter further, and his representatives are investigating whether the Lodi case can set a precedent for his own situation.
Two transfers have already collapsed
Timing is important. Richarlison has already seen two transfers fall apart.
His return to Everton collapsed after he himself decided not to leave – despite Tottenham making it clear that they were willing to approve the transfer. A move to the big-buying Turkish club Trabzonspor has also not materialized.
At the same time, Vasco da Gama is ready to offer Richarlison a way back to Brazil, as TEAMtalk revealed earlier this month. The parties have already had talks.
But that’s where it stops: Richarlison wants to leave Tottenham as a free agent – and then have the opportunity to move again in January after a spell at Vasco.
His current contract with Spurs runs until the end of the season. But now his camp is looking into whether they can close the deal long before then.
