Tottenham Hotspur star Richarlison denies threatening exit if Antonio Conte stayed
Richarlison has slammed claims that he threatened to leave Tottenham Hotspur if Antonio Conte stayed.
South American outlet TyC Sports (h/t Sky Sports) claimed that both he and Cristian Romero gave an ultimatum to Spurs over Conte’s departure. The Italian manager called Spurs players ‘selfish’ and savaged the club after their recent 3-3 draw against Southampton at St. Mary’s.
He was subsequently allowed to leave by mutual consent. Richarlison stated in a public statement on his Twitter account:
“Questioning and criticising me as a player for my performance is part of football and I got it. However, telling lies about me, I don’t accept! I’ve always had a lot of respect for Conte and for all my coaches.
“He helped me a lot in my (sic) coming to the Spurs and, whenever we had a problem (even if it was public) we solved it based on conversation and professionalism – and this he can confirm. I wasn’t a mutiny leader against him, it was quite the opposite.
“I’m sorry I didn’t deliver as much as he expected of me and I didn’t do enough for him to stay. When he left, I sent him a message thanking him for everything and wishing him the best cause that’s what he deserves!
“On the other hand, the journalist responsible for this awful lie did not even do the least which would be talking to my PR or listening to me. Bad professional and bad character! And shame on you, TyC Sports!”
That’s quite a rant but it is completely warranted. There was no need for any media outlet to cook up such a story if it wasn’t fact-checked by them. All it does is disturb the dressing room harmony. Richy and Romero are professionals and so is Conte – it’s highly unlikely a situation of such discomfort would have arisen that the duo would have had to give a childish ultimatum.
The former Everton man could have been compelled to make such a statement as some could have believed TyC Sports’ claims due to Richarlison and Conte’s public tiff earlier this season. Richarlison said he did not like being benched so often and the Italian coach later agreed with the Spurs forward that he was indeed having a ‘sh** season“.
Richarlison hasn’t been as impressive as we thought he would have been since his high-profile move from Goodison Park last summer. But with Dejan Kulusevski, Harry Kane and Son Heung-min in the team, of course, the Brazil international wasn’t going to play every single week.
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He has only managed two goals and four assists in 27 games in all competitions for us and has had injury issues as well. He could have done more to save Conte’s job – he’s right. But he wasn’t the only underperforming player and neither should he be held accountable for the former Chelsea boss’ unceremonious exit earlier this month.
