Liverpool Echo

Richarlison transfer twist as six players could miss Tottenham vs Everton  Liverpool Echo

Tottenham signed Richarlison from Everton for £60m on a five-year deal in 2022 but the forward now finds himself in dispute with the North London club

Roberto De Zerbi doesn't know if Richarlison will leave Tottenham Hotspur. Earlier this week, it emerged that Richarlison is exploring the possibility of terminating his contract to allow him to leave the club immediately.

The forward was linked with a return to Everton during the summer transfer window and has since been left out of De Zerbi’s 25-man Premier League squad. But when asked for an update on the 29-year-old's situation at the club, the Spurs boss said: "I don't know. It's not my job.

"What I can say is I know very well what the club has done for Richarlison and I know very well what Richarlison has done for the club in the last month, two months.

"I know, the club knows, he knows, his agent knows. Everyone knows better than you [the media]. Much better."

Tottenham have failed to win any of their opening three games of the season, but De Zerbi's side will be boosted by the return of James Maddison for tomorrow’s game against Everton.

“Maddison, yes [he will be back]," the Spurs boss said, before adding: "I'm happy when all my players are available.

"It is maybe a problem for me because my decisions are not easy. But I want to manage all players together."

But Mykhailo Mudryk is out for the foreseeable future with an ankle injury, while Dejan Kulusevski will also miss the game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

"No, Kulusevski," De Zerbi said. "He's not working us in the last week. It's not a big problem. It's a normal problem when one player is out for a long time, like Mudryk.

"It was a stupid injury for Mudryk, and we hope he can be back soon as possible, for him and for us. For him because he has suffered too much and for us because we have lost one player, an important player.

"He played 20 minutes at Nottingham, he played well. It's normal process when a player has not played in a long time."

On his side’s poor start to the season, the Italian said: "We are better than last season. Especially at the end of the season with many, many injuries.

"It's difficult to believe right now because we are not winning, we are not scoring but I am positive because I believe in my players and the group.

"The players have big qualities and big potential and now... I am positive. There is always the result of the pitch and the performance but we are working well.

"In Nottingham, I watched something different than in Brentford for sure. Newcastle was a particular game because until one hour of the game, I think we deserved to win that part of the game. I think we are in the right way and I think we are in the right moment of improvement."

David Moyes press conference - Everton injury and team news for Tottenham Hotspur  Liverpool Echo

Tottenham Hotspur host Everton in the Premier League on Saturday looking for their first goal and win of the new 2026-27 season

Tottenham Hotspur will be without new signing Mykhailo Mudryk for the game with Everton at the weekend but two key players are nearing a return.

The Ukraine international, a deadline day arrival on loan from Chelsea, is expected to miss between six and eight weeks after suffering an ankle injury in training on Monday.

He is one of several players set to sit out the visit of the Blues with the setback being the latest blow for a Spurs side yet to score this season in the Premier League. Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison are both close to what would be significant returns, however.

Mudryk was a late addition to the Tottenham squad after the club lost the battle to sign Everton star Iliman Ndiaye. The winger was set head to north London in a £60m deal that would have seen the Blues sign Richarlison in a separate, but linked, deal.

But Manchester City swooped in for the Senegal international after their attempt to sign Cody Gakpo from Liverpool fell through, signing Ndiaye for a £60m fee that could rise by a further £5m.

Spurs turned to Mudryk, offering him a chance to rebuild his career after a doping ban for testing positive for a banned substance. He received a four-year ban in 2024 but was cleared to return to action in the summer after resolving his case with the Football Association.

His 17 minutes from the bench in the draw at Nottingham Forest on Saturday was his first competitive appearance since November 2024.

Tottenham boss Roberto de Zerbi will also be without other key players, with Mudryk joining Xavi Simons and Wilson Odobert on the sidelines.

Maddison has missed the last two games with a shoulder issue but had returned to training ahead of the Forest game so could be in contention for Saturday evening. Kulusevski has also returned to training after his 16 months out with a knee problem.

De Zerbi should have new signings Omar Marmoush and Savio available but there appears little chance of Richarlison playing against his former club after he was left out of the Spurs squad submitted to the Premier League.

The Italian coach said it was not his decision and last week said the Brazil forward had requested to leave.

Everton had an equally dramatic conclusion to the transfer window but head into the match with a small, albeit settled squad.

Hayden Hackney, Jarrad Branthwaite and James Garner all featured against Manchester United last weekend as they continued to grow in strength after summers in which their fitness programmes were managed amid rehabilitation work from injuries.

Everton trio present Tottenham Hotspur selection dilemma as David Moyes could change shape  Liverpool Echo

Everton star Iliman Ndiaye looks poised to join Manchester City after they agreed a £65m deal with Everton

Manchester City have agreed to sign Everton's Iliman Ndiaye for a fee bigger than the one that would have taken the mercurial winger to Tottenham Hotspur.

Ndiaye was being lined-up to make a £60m move to Tottenham in a separate deal to the one that would have brought Richarlison back to Everton.

That latter deal now appears in real jeopardy with Richarlison releasing an angry statement this evening.

But Ndiaye to Spurs certainly seems off. That's because the Senegal international is poised for City.

The Etihad Stadium outfit have agreed a deal with the Blues that will see them pay £60m plus £5m in add ons.

That represents a significant profit for Everton, who paid Marseille £15m for Ndiaye, who has gone to score 17 goals in 74 appearances on Merseyside including the historic last goal at Goodison Park and first at Hill Dickinson Stadium, two summers ago.

He has returned to the Blues in excellent form after the World Cup but there was always a fear among supporters that he could be tempted away before the close of the transfer window after he admitted in the summer to wanting to play in the Champions League.

Tottenham, after a second successive season of finishing just one place above the relegation spots, could not have offered that.

But City, another huge-spending outfit, can, and they have moved for Ndiaye after seeing an £80m bid for Liverpool's Cody Gakpo rejected.

Everton are trying to do another deal with the Carabao Cup and FA Cup holders by re-signing Jack Grealish, who spent last season on loan at Hill Dickinson Stadium.

The Blues have also launched a bid for AS Monaco striker Folarin Balogun with one of their two current centre-forward options, Beto, looking set to join Fiorentina.

Young left-back, Adam Aznou, meanwhile, has signed for Malaga on a season-long loan.

Ndiaye, who has turned down a number of new contract offers from Everton, is expected to undergo a medical with City tomorrow (Tuesday).

Richarlison has been linked with a return to Everton from Tottenham this summer and the Brazilian has now released a statement on his future

Richarlison has made it abundantly clear that no one will pressure him into determining the next chapter of his career, amid ongoing negotiations between Everton and Tottenham over a potential transfer.

Spurs are attempting to secure the signing of Iliman Ndiaye from Everton, with Manchester City also in the running, and as part of a separate arrangement, Everton and Tottenham have been in discussions to move Richarlison in the opposite direction. The Brazilian has just 10 months remaining on his contract in north London, though the club hold an option to extend it by a further year.

"Richarlison, I don't know. He said too many times he wants to leave," said Spurs boss Roberto De Zerbi on Saturday.

The Brazilian took to social media on Sunday with the message: "I am the villain in many stories that are poorly told."

There had been suggestions that Richarlison had been unable to reach an agreement with his former club despite his fondness for the club, and now the Brazil striker has issued a lengthier statement on Instagram, making it plain that only he will determine what lies ahead in his career - though he has expressed a desire to return to Everton, reports our sister title Football.London.

"After everything I've been through in the last few years, I've decided that NEVER AGAIN will anyone decide my future for me," he said. "I went through a lot of bad things, and almost all of them happened because decisions were made by other people.

"Pressure, threats, retaliation - none of that scares me. I've been through far worse, believe me. I've always made it clear, every time I had the chance, that leaving for another club would only happen if it was also good for the club.

"If it wasn't, I would never accept it... just like I didn't accept it when everything was going badly and they needed me. I stayed and gave everything.

"So I hope they treat my situation with the same respect I've always shown Spurs and everyone who worked with me during this period. Just don't try to decide for me."

Richarlison then added: "If they reach an agreement between Spurs and Everton, I will return to my beloved club. My intention was to go back to the place where I was very happy, yes, but the negotiations happened only in the way certain people wanted, and it will no longer be like that. Despite all this turmoil, I am under contract at Spurs and will remain at the club's disposal."

The 29-year-old became a huge favourite at Goodison Park before his £60m move to Tottenham in the summer of 2022.

He scored 53 goals in 152 appearances for Everton and was paramount to the club surviving relegation in 2021-22.

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