Richarlison scores for Tottenham under-21s after being frozen out of first-team plans

Richarlison makes his mark in Spurs’ under-21s draw

Richarlison scored for Tottenham’s under-21s in a 2-2 EFL Trophy draw at Cheltenham, offering a reminder of his quality during a spell on the fringes of the senior team. Tottenham went on to lose the penalty shootout 7-6, with the Brazilian converting his kick.

The 29-year-old came on in the surprise appearance and scored in the 56th minute with a first-time finish. Tottenham’s academy players joined him in his pigeon celebration. After the match, Richarlison posted on Instagram: “Happy to do what I love the most in life. I was missing it!”

Cotterill praises Brazilian’s attitude

Cheltenham manager Steve Cotterill said he had been pleased to see Richarlison on the teamsheet, describing the occasion as valuable for his own players. “To be fair to him, with a lot of talk about our lads playing against him, Richarlison’s attitude was immaculate tonight,” Cotterill said. “He was really, really good and his attitude was great.”

Cotterill added that Richarlison could have treated the match casually, but instead gave the Cheltenham players a glimpse of the level required at the top of the game. He said it was “great for our lads to play against someone of his stature”.

First-team future remains uncertain

Richarlison has not featured for Tottenham’s senior side since their opening-day defeat at Brentford on 22 August. He was omitted from the club’s 25-man Premier League squad after being told he was not part of the first-team plans for this season. Transfer moves to Trabzonspor and Vasco da Gama failed to materialise, while talks with Everton collapsed shortly before the English transfer window closed.

Tottenham head coach Roberto De Zerbi and the rest of the senior squad were in Marbella for warm-weather training as Richarlison played in Cheltenham.