Tottenham striker Richarlison has admitted that he “dreams” of playing for Real Madrid and has been in contact with Carlo Ancelotti recently.
The Brazilian striker joined Spurs in a £60million move from Everton last summer but endured a difficult debut campaign in north London. He contributed just three goals and four assists in 35 appearances across all competitions last season.
Richarlison struggled to live up to his billing as Tottenham’s most significant summer signing, playing third fiddle behind Harry Kane and Son Heung-min. He is now away on international duty with Brazil and his comments about Real Madrid will turn heads among his employers at Spurs.
"Real Madrid links? Of course, every player wants to wear the shirt of Real Madrid," he told reporters. "It's the biggest club in the world. But I have a club, a contract, I have to prove why they bought me for a high price. It was a bad season for me, also due to injuries that I had at Tottenham.
“But it’s a dream, a dream of every player to wear Real’s shirt. But I still have to deliver wearing Tottenham’s shirt.”
He was then asked if there had been any contact from Real Madrid, who are managed by his former Everton boss Ancelotti. “Well, as everyone knows, Ancelotti coached me and Everton and we chat a lot,” he replied.
“The other day, I called him and he was with Vinicius Junior and [Eder] Militao. But there’s nothing going on, just friendship. We became very good friends at Everton where I could help him. This friendship will last forever.”
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The links with Real have not just developed due to the existing relationship between Richarlison and Ancelotti. Real are also in need of a new striker after Karim Benzema left the club to join Saudi Arabian side Al-Ittihad.
Benzema scored 354 goals for Real in 648 games and will be a huge miss for Los Blancos, who have been linked with Richarlison’s Spurs team-mate Kane as a possible replacement. Reports have also suggested that Chelsea forward Kai Havertz and Lille striker Jonathan David are on the longlist for Real.
Although he has struggled at Tottenham, Richarlison has a wonderful record of 20 goals in 42 matches for Brazil. He was impressive for his national team at the World Cup in Qatar and ESPN reported in February that Richarilson and Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic are both being considered this summer.
Kylian Mbappe is another possibility as a replacement for Benzema after he handed Paris Saint-Germain a letter confirming he won’t trigger the one-year extension in his contract. PSG are now in a position where they have to sell Mbappe this summer or lose him for free next year.
