Tottenham Hotspur attacker Richarlison has revealed that he is seeking psychological help for problems off the field that have affected him over the past few months.
The former Everton man started the 2023-24 season as Spurs' first-choice striker following the departure of Harry Kane to Bayern Munich, but he has just one goal from his opening five games - an equaliser against Fulham in the EFL Cup.
Richarlison's contribution at Craven Cottage proved inconsequential as Spurs went out on penalties in the second round, while he was dropped to the bench for his side's most recent Premier League encounter with Burnley due to a knock.
In Richarlison's absence, his replacement Manor Solomon set up two goals and Son Heung-min scored a hat-trick in a 5-2 romping, although the 26-year-old did come off the bench for the final 18 minutes of that match.
All in all, the striker only has four goals and four assists to show from 40 matches in a Spurs shirt, including a solitary goal from 31 contests in the Premier League against Liverpool in April's 4-3 defeat.
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During a troubled debut season, Richarlison memorably questioned his lack of game time and said that his first few months in North London had been "shit" after he was dropped against AC Milan in the Champions League, and then-manager Antonio Conte agreed with his blunt assessment.
Despite his North London struggles, Richarlison remains a crucial part of the Brazil setup and started both of their recent World Cup 2026 qualifying wins over Bolivia and Peru, although he was substituted on both occasions without scoring or assisting, having had a goal ruled out for offside against the latter.
After being taken off with 71 minutes gone in the 5-1 win over Bolivia, a disconsolate Richarlison broke down in tears, and the former Watford man lifted the lid on the reason for his emotional outpouring to ge.globo.
Richarlison revealed to the Brazilian outlet that people who "only" wanted his money were no longer in his life - allegedly a reference to the end of his partnership with agent Renato Velasco - and he plans to see a psychologist when he returns to England.
"On the field I'm a happy team player, I try to help as much as possible. Sometimes, things don't go the way we want. I think this part is a bit of the off-field side that ended up getting in my way," Richarlison said.
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"Even though you want to do things right, it ends up going wrong. I will continue to focus on the club, the storm has passed. I went through a turbulent time in the last five months off the field. Now things are right at home.
"People who only had an eye on my money walked away from me. Now things will start to flow, I'm sure I'll get a good run at Tottenham and make things happen again.
"That sad moment wasn't even because I played poorly, in my opinion I didn't play a bad game in Belém, it was more of an outburst about the things that were happening off the field, which got out of control not on my part, but on the part of people who were close to me.
"I'm going to go back to England, seek psychological help, from a psychologist, to work on my mind. That's it, come back stronger. I believe I will be in the next (convocation), I will work for that. It's about getting a good streak at Tottenham, this week I'm going to sit down and talk to them, I need a good streak, get the rhythm of the game and get here well."
Richarlison is expected to be available for Spurs' next Premier League fixture at home to Sheffield United on Saturday, although it remains to be seen if he features from the first whistle following a taxing week in South America.
Ben Knapton
