Richarlison to seek ‘psychological help’ after difficult international window with Brazil

Richarlison has said he will seek psychological help upon his return to Tottenham Hotspur this week as he looks to rediscover his form after a “turbulent time” off the field.

The Brazil forward has struggled for consistency ever since his £60 million move from Everton to Spurs in July 2022, and has scored only one Premier League goal for the club in 31 appearances.

The 26-year-old was in tears on the bench during Brazil’s 5-1 victory over Bolivia last week, when he was substituted after failing to find the net.

He has now revealed that off-field issues were behind his emotional outburst, saying that “people who were close to me” had created issues away from football.

“On the field I’m a happy team player, I try to help as much as possible,” Richarlison told Globo Esporte after Brazil’s victory over Peru.

“Sometimes, things don’t go the way we want. I think this part is a bit of the off-field side that ended up getting in my way. Even though you want to do things right, it ends up going wrong. I will continue to focus on the club, the storm has passed.

“I went through a turbulent time in the last five months off the field. Now things are right at home. People who only had an eye on my money walked away from me. Now things will start to flow, I’m sure I’ll get a good run at Tottenham and make things happen again.

“That sad moment [against Bolivia] wasn’t even because I played poorly. In my opinion I didn’t play a bad game. It was more of an outburst about the things that were happening off the field, which got out of control not on my part, but on the part of people who were close to me.”

Richarlison said he plans to “work on his mind” when he returns to north London and insisted that his “bad phase” will soon come to an end.

“I’m going to go back to England, seek psychological help, from a psychologist, to work on my mind,” said Richarlison. “That’s it, come back stronger. It’s about getting a good streak at Tottenham. This week I’m going to sit down and talk to them. I need a good streak, to get the rhythm of the game.

“I’m happy to wear the national team shirt again, to be playing and happy. It’s important to give Tottenham a good run. This bad phase will pass. It’s part of football, it’s about continuing to work hard, things will happen again for me. I know my potential, I know what I’m capable of.”

Richarlison started the first three league matches of the season for Spurs, with the Brazilian given the responsibility to lead the line following the departure of Harry Kane to Bayern Munich.

He dropped to the bench for the 5-2 win at Burnley earlier this month, though, and now faces increased competition for a starting place following the £47.5 million arrival of Brennan Johnson from Nottingham Forest.