Tottenham’s forgotten man Richarlison scores for under-21s: ‘I was missing it’

Tottenham’s forgotten man Richarlison has been hailed for his “immaculate” attitude after he scored for the club’s under-21s on Tuesday night. Richarlison has not played for Spurs’ senior side since an opening-day defeat at Brentford on 22 August after he was left out of the 25-man Premier League squad list, having been told he was not part of first-team plans for this season.

Failed moves to Trabzonspor and Vasco da Gama, after talks with Everton collapsed in the final days before the transfer window in England shut, have left Richarlison in limbo for the first half of the campaign. However, the Brazil international earned himself fans after he made a surprise appearance in the Jersey Mike’s (EFL) Trophy tie at Cheltenham. Richarlison, 29, scored after 56 minutes in a 2-2 draw and converted a spot-kick in a 7-6 penalty shootout loss for Wayne Burnett’s side.

The Cheltenham manager, Steve Cotterill, as quoted by Gloucestershire Live, said: “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.

“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.”

After Richarlison’s fine first-time finish in the 56th minute, Tottenham’s academy players joined the Brazilian in performing his pigeon celebration. He 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.