Photo: Hossein Zohrevand / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 4.0

Richarlison is facing a battle against time to secure a move away from Tottenham, and with Roberto De Zerbi having already made his feelings clear, it's hard to see how this ends well for anyone.

The Brazilian was left out of De Zerbi's Premier League squad altogether. That’s as blunt a message as a manager can send a player he no longer wants around. That omission has kick-started a genuinely messy scramble to find Richarlison a new home before doors start closing across Europe and South America.

Vasco da Gama of Richarlison’s homeland is desperate to sign their boyhood fan, and the 29-year-old has apparently given the move his blessing. There's just one problem - money.

The £20 million wall

Spurs are holding firm on a fee of around £20 million, and Vasco simply don't have it sitting in the bank. A loan was the obvious workaround, except Tottenham have already burned through their limit of six players out on loan to foreign clubs, so that route is closed too.

According to reports out of Brazil, Vasco haven't given up. Rather than walking away, they're trying to get creative. They have floated the idea of a reduced fee up front with the rest of the money spread across instalments over the following years. Whether Tottenham's hierarchy, who have shown zero appetite for doing this player any favours, will accept payment terms like that remains to be seen.

Vasco president Pedrinho is understood to be personally driving the push to get something over the line before Friday's deadline, which tells you how badly the club wants this done even if the finances say otherwise.

But the Brazilian transfer window shuts on 11th September, giving all parties barely any time to find a structure that works for both sides.

Why Spurs are playing hardball

To understand why Tottenham are dragging their heels rather than just letting him go, you have to go back to deadline day at the end of the summer just gone, when a move to Everton was seemingly done and dusted.

The Athletic's David Ornstein reported a deal had been agreed in principle for Richarlison to return to Goodison Park, four years after leaving for north London, with a £35 million fee on the table and Iliman Ndiaye set to move the other way to Spurs for £60 million. Everything pointed to both deals getting done that night.

Then Richarlison went to Instagram. First came a cryptic post over a mural, its caption translating as him calling himself "the villain in many poorly told stories". That was enough to tell anyone paying attention that something had gone wrong behind the scenes.

A longer statement followed. He made clear that after everything he'd been through, he'd decided "never again" would someone else get to decide his future for him, adding that he'd only agree to a move if it worked for the club too. He said he'd go back to Everton if Spurs and Everton could reach an agreement, but stressed the negotiations had been driven by what other people wanted rather than him, and that wasn't going to fly. He finished by pointing out he was still under contract at Spurs and would remain available to the club.

Whatever was actually said in those personal-terms discussions, the outcome was that Richarlison hadn't signed off on the move, Ndiaye's switch to Spurs stalled as a direct result, and Tottenham ended up pivoting to Mykhaylo Mudryk instead. Spurs' hierarchy were furious, and it's clear that anger hasn't gone away. If anything, it's shaping how tough they're being now that the roles are reversed and Richarlison is the one desperate to leave.

Turkey said no, Saudi Arabia might say yes

It's not as if Richarlison hasn't already tried the exits closer to home. Trabzonspor made a serious push before the Turkish window shut last week, reportedly dangling wages close to three times what he's currently earning at Spurs. Even that wasn't enough to get Tottenham to budge on their valuation, and the move collapsed.

There's also a genuine question mark over whether Vasco is even where Richarlison wants to end up. Reports out of Brazil this week have been contradictory — one strand suggesting he's given the green light and is excited to go home, another citing his own camp insisting he has no interest in returning to Brazil right now and would rather hold out for an offer from the Saudi Pro League. Even a show of support from Vasco's fanbase apparently hasn't shifted that stance, according to ESPN Brasil.

The nuclear option: FIFA

With time running out and Spurs unwilling to bend, Richarlison has reportedly gone as far as looking at whether he can force through a contract termination to get himself to Vasco as a free agent, according to Globo. His legal team are said to be in discussions with Tottenham executives to see whether a severance agreement can be reached before Friday.

It's an extreme step, and one that tells you exactly how far the relationship has broken down. Players don't usually go anywhere near contract termination unless every other door has been slammed shut. If Spurs do grant a release, Vasco would be able to register him as a free agent and sidestep the fee argument that's been holding this up altogether — but there's been no indication yet that Tottenham are willing to let him walk for nothing, especially given how the Everton saga ended.

Where this leaves Spurs

None of this reflects well on either side, if we're being honest. Richarlison torpedoing his own move at the end of last summer's window, then expecting Tottenham to roll over and help him leave for a cut-price fee weeks later, was always going to be a hard sell. But Tottenham refusing to move on a player who clearly isn't part of De Zerbi's plans, and leaving him to scramble across three different transfer windows in the space of a fortnight, isn't exactly a great look for the club either.

At this point, Spurs are better off taking whatever fee gets him out of the building before Friday. Keeping an unhappy, unused striker on the books with a year left on his deal helps nobody, least of all a squad. Sentiment aside, this needed sorting weeks ago.

We'll know within 48 hours whether Vasco, Saudi Arabia, or a FIFA-mediated exit is how this one finally ends.