Richarlison's Future Uncertain as De Zerbi Speaks Out
In Sydney’s cool evening air, with Tottenham fans still celebrating a late winner over Chelsea, Roberto De Zerbi dropped a line that cut straight through the post-match glow.
Richarlison might be on his way out.
Barely half an hour after the Brazilian had tapped in the decisive goal in a 2-1 friendly victory, his manager stood in front of the cameras and openly admitted he does not know if the forward will be at the club beyond the coming season.
Richarlison, 29, has just 12 months left on his contract. There have been no talks reported over an extension. And De Zerbi painted the picture of a player torn between staying and starting again somewhere else.
“I don't know,” De Zerbi said, laying out the dilemma with unusual candour. “As a player, as a guy, he's unbelievable in his attitude and behaviour, but in the end, we have to respect what he wants to do.”
That respect could soon be tested.
A striker who knows the way
De Zerbi did not sound like a coach eager to lose him. He sounded like one bracing for the possibility.
“It's not so easy to find another striker as Richarlison,” he said. “Because Richarlison scores goals and he knows the way. The new striker, we don't know. The other striker, we don't know.”
Twelve league goals last season underline the point. Those numbers did not come by chance, in De Zerbi’s eyes.
“He scored 12 goals last season — not lucky, because he feels the way to score goals.”
Then came the line that will worry Spurs supporters most.
“So I don't know. I didn't understand well because sometimes he says he wants to stay, sometimes he wants to leave. There is not any problem. He's a lovely guy.”
Inside the dressing room and around the training ground, Richarlison remains hugely popular. De Zerbi went out of his way to stress that.
“All of us know him; he makes the club, the staff, because he works hard every day, seriously every day, and we can't say anything negative.”
A model professional, a reliable goalscorer, a contract running down, and a player who, by his own manager’s admission, is sending mixed messages. Tottenham have seen this film before. The difference now is De Zerbi is choosing to say it out loud.
A new armband, a new era
While Richarlison weighs up his future, another storyline is quietly taking shape at Spurs.
Archie Gray, 20 years old and still learning the league, has worn the captain’s armband in every game of the club’s tour of Australia. It is not a token gesture. It is a statement.
Asked to explain the thinking behind handing such responsibility to a player barely out of his teens, De Zerbi’s answer came with a smile.
“I'm the coach, I decide.”
Then he expanded, revealing the intent behind the move.
“I think this has been more important for Archie Gray than for Ben Davies because it's like to give Archie something more as a confidence booster.”
De Zerbi has been bullish on Gray for some time. That did not change on tour.
“Last season, I said he is the future of the club, as well as the present. It's important for us because he can cover 2-3 positions on the pitch.”
Gray does not love one of those roles. De Zerbi made that clear too.
“He doesn't love too much to play in the right-back position, but I think with the captain, you have to think first of all for the group, for the team, for the club, then for yourself.”
This is the trade-off. A young player asked to sacrifice personal comfort for the collective, and a coach rewarding that with trust and authority.
“So it was something more to give him,” De Zerbi said, “because he decided to give more to this club, even with his different position, even if he doesn't play in the best eleven.”
The message is unmistakable: leadership at Spurs will not be defined purely by seniority or star power. It will be defined by what you give back.
Mudryk’s return and an old bond
On the opposite side of the pitch in Sydney, another story was unfolding. Mykhailo Mudryk, back in a Chelsea shirt after winning his appeal against a doping ban that had kept him out of professional football since November 2024, rejoined the matchday scene.
For De Zerbi, this was personal.
The Italian coached Mudryk at Shakhtar Donetsk, guiding the winger through his breakout period before both men left for the Premier League. That bond has not faded.
De Zerbi described Mudryk as “my second son” and did not hide his delight at the Ukrainian’s return.
“I'm very, very happy,” he said. “A good guy, a top player, hopefully he can show what he suffered in the last two years in the next season. Maybe not against Tottenham, but he's a lovely guy and he's a very, very good player.”
The line drew a smile, but the sentiment was real. In a friendly thousands of miles from home, there was space for empathy, for shared history, for a reminder that careers can veer off course and still be pulled back.
A squad at a crossroads
So Tottenham leave Australia with a win over Chelsea, a young captain growing into the armband, and a manager unafraid to speak plainly about the fault lines in his squad.
Richarlison remains central to that. His goals, his work, his standing in the dressing room — all of it matters. But the clock is ticking on his contract, and his manager has now admitted publicly that the player’s mind is not made up.
If he stays, De Zerbi keeps a striker who “knows the way” in front of goal. If he goes, Tottenham step into the unknown, hunting for a replacement in a market where proven scorers are scarce and expensive.
One friendly in Sydney has left Spurs with a familiar question, sharpened by a new voice: can they build their future around a forward who is no longer sure he wants to be part of it?
