Goal crisis & in drop zone - so why is Spurs' £60m striker stuck in U21s?
Retold by Oddsrama · 13 October 2026
Tottenham's season has become a crisis of creativity in the final third, and it's only getting more puzzling by the week. The North Londoners have managed just three league goals through their opening matches—the worst-scoring record in the Premier League—yet their £60 million Brazilian forward Richarlison is kicking a ball around in the under-21s. Last week, he scored in front of a handful of spectators for Spurs' reserves against Cheltenham Town in the EFL Trophy, a stark fall from grace for a player who represented Brazil at the 2022 World Cup alongside elite talent like Neymar Jr and Vinícius Jr.
The entire mess stems from a failed transfer deadline day dash. Richarlison spent the summer pushing to leave Tottenham, nearly sealing a dream return to Everton before negotiations collapsed at the eleventh hour. A subsequent move to Brazilian club Vasco da Gama also crumbled when personal terms couldn't be agreed. Manager Roberto de Zerbi has maintained that the decision to exclude him from the club's 25-man Premier League squad wasn't his own, placing responsibility squarely on the club's hierarchy. De Zerbi opted not to register him, meaning Richarlison is ineligible for most competitions and forced to hunt for minutes in the lower divisions.
The irony is painful. Richarlison netted 12 league goals last season and remains Spurs' joint highest goalscorer in the competition since his 2023 arrival from Everton, with 27 goals in 103 appearances. His absence has been felt acutely—there's been barely a Premier League goal from a Tottenham forward since May, and the pressure is mounting on centre-forward Dominic Solanke, who cost £55 million and has contributed only 13 league goals in two years. For betting purposes, Spurs' abysmal attacking form makes them dreadfully short for winning markets, and their top-four hopes look increasingly remote from this starting point. Whether Richarlison gets a second chance in January remains the question haunting North London.
Related stories
Oddsrama retells the day's football news in our own words, with full credit to the source. 18+. Play responsibly.