Antonio Conte has admitted he had 'doubts' over where Richarlison would fit in following his summer arrival at Tottenham Hotspur.
The Brazilian joined Spurs during the summer in a deal which could eventually cost £60m including add-ons. Watford will receive a small fee as part of the deal due to a sell-on clause they inserted in the deal that took him to Merseyside.
The ECHO reported during the summer how Richarlison had been viewed by Spurs as a player who could strengthen Conte's squad heading into the new season. The forward made 152 appearances for Everton after joining from Watford during the summer of 2018, scoring 53 goals in that time.
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The 25-year-old Brazilian has fitted in well at Tottenham, but Conte admitted he had doubts at first about playing him in a three with Harry Kane and Son Heung-min.
"I think when we play with three strikers, you have to know that your type of game is more direct. Not with a lot of possession because you have three strikers, only two midfielders," he said.
"On one side, you control the game less but on another side you know you have three strikers with Sonny, Harry and Richarlison. With the rest of the team, we have to put them in the best situation to score.
"Honestly, at the start, I had some doubts about the balance to put three strikers like Richy, Harry and Sonny, because you know very well you have to attack, but at the same time it’s important to have a good balance if you want to be competitive.
"At the start I had some doubts to put them altogether, but then when it happened, I had always a great answer about Richy, Sonny and Kane because we are talking about three strikers, but three strikers who work a lot for the team.
“This is why I think we can play with these three strikers because they give us a lot of potentiality offensively, but at the same time, defensively, we have a good balance."
Richarlison started with Kane and Son in a front three for Spurs’ 3-2 Champions League win over Frankfurt on Wednesday night, but speaking afterwards Conte admitted the Brazil international had picked up a knee problem, but is hopeful he will be able to feature against his former club this evening.
He said: “Richarlison played a good game. He had a problem in his knee. I hope it’s nothing serious for Saturday’s game with Everton.”
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