Richarlison responds as Roberto De Zerbi says he WON'T pick him for Tottenham again

· Mirror

Richarlison has been frozen out at Tottenham under Roberto De Zerbi and now the Brazilian has responded on social media

Tottenham Hotspur forward Richarlison has questioned Roberto De Zerbi's decision not to include him in Spurs' squad for the Carabao Cup clash against Liverpool on Tuesday. The striker was left out of Spurs’ 25-man Premier League player list submitted in early September after being told he was not part of their first-team plans this season.

The Brazil international is, though, free to feature in the League Cup, as it is a separate competition. However, Tottenham head coach De Zerbi turned down the chance to include him in his squad for the third round tie at Anfield.

And the 29-year-old has now had his say on the Italian's decision. Responding to a screenshot of De Zerbi's quotes in an Instagram story, he said: "Why?" followed with a sweating face emoji.

Former Brighton boss De Zerbi has taken a hard-line stance over Richarlison. Speaking at his pre-match press conference on Monday, he confirmed that the Brazilian won't feature on Merseyside, and won't play in the Italian's Spurs team even if he's fit.

The 47-year-old said: “Richarlison, you already know everything and nothing changed for Carabao Cup or Premier League. The situation is the same."

Asked if that meant the ex-Everton man would not be involved at Anfield, the ex-Marseille boss simply replied: “No.”

He added: “I stay in the middle and I can’t say nothing more because it is not my job. I can answer about the result and the players in the squad, the offensive phase, the defensive phase, but not for other things.

> “What I have done at the beginning of this season has been to speak with him and to propose an extension of the contract. If he said, ‘No thank you,’ I finished my job.

> “I said in the last press conference. I know what happened in the last 45 days. It’s not right if I explained. It’s not my behaviour. The relationship, the problem is between the player and the club.

> “I stay within the club. It’s coach and club together. At the start of this season I spoke to him many times to convince him to stay and he didn’t want to. I can’t go every day to pray for him to stay.”

Richarlison started Spurs' opening league fixture at Brentford before being told he could leave the north London club. A move back to Everton then collapsed and interest from Turkish giants Trabzonspor failed to materialise.

After failing to agree on personal terms with boyhood club Vasco Da Gama on Friday, he attended Spurs' goalless draw against Everton. However, he stayed on the sidelines and reportedly tried to explore whether the final nine months of his contract at Spurs could be terminated last week.

The attacker has scored 32 goals in 135 appearances for Tottenham - four of which have come against Tuesday's opponents, Liverpool. Spurs are yet to score in the league this season and sit 17th after four matches.

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