Tottenham star Richarlison has revealed that a phone call with Antonio Conte was a "vital" factor for his decision to join the club from Everton this summer. It comes after the Brazilian was linked with a number of sides, eventually snubbing them for a role at Spurs.
It's one he appears to be relishing too, causing a headache for the manager when it comes to his team selection and squad rotation. The 25-year-old has looked to disrupt the usual front three of Harry Kane, Son Heung-Min and Dejan Kulusevski, pushing each of them to fight for their place in the starting line-up.
"We signed Richy [Richarlison] because we tried to sign a player that was able to play in all three positions," Conte said recently on the striker. "For this reason we hadn't had any doubts to sign him. We did this quickly because our idea and vision was very clear, especially for this reason.
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"Richy is more of striker than Deki [Dejan Kulusevski] but at the same time he can play in Son's position, in Harry Kane's position and Deki's position. For us this is very important because for sure when you make rotation, you don't drop the quality."
Things could have turned out differently for Richarlison though, with the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea reportedly eyeing a move during the window. With that interest though, he has since spoken about what influenced his move in an interview with FourFourTwo, saying: "I was on holiday in Brazil when I heard that Tottenham had made Everton an offer.
"I was happy, because they are a huge team. Then it was all about the clubs negotiating a deal, and fortunately everything went well. Antonio Conte called me during the negotiations and expressed how much he’d like to have me on board – that was vital for my decision."
When asked about the interest from London rivals Arsenal and Chelsea, he added: "I know Chelsea made an offer, and I believe Arsenal also contacted Everton to ask about my situation, but Spurs came in and paid the fee, you know? It’s as simple as that.
"Everton had to sell some players to avoid a Financial Fair Play problem, and the negotiations were very brief, to be honest. I signed the contract during my holiday in the Pantanal [a remote region of Brazil]."
It shows just how important the pull of Conte has been in securing a player of Richarlison's calibre. There will be hope that his transfer decision comes off for all parties, continuing to build on a positive start for his new team.
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