"The money is big but my dreams are bigger!" - Tottenham star rejects Saudi move, reveals reason for snub
Tottenham Hotspur striker Richarlison has snubbed a move to Saudi Arabia despite an offer. He said he wants to stay in the Premier League and play for Brazil rather than playing for money.
Richarlison's future had come under immense speculation this summer as Spurs look to overhaul their squad under Ange Postecoglou. talkSPORT journalist Alex Crook reported that the Brazilian striker is open to moving to Saudi Arabia amidst interest from Al-Ahli.
However, Richarlison has rubbished such claims, telling ESPN Brasil (via Fabrizio Romano):
“There has been an offer from Saudi… but my dream of playing for the Brazilian Seleção and in the Premier League speaks louder.
“The money is big but my dreams are bigger!”
Tottenham signed Richarlison from Everton for a fee of £50 million plus £10 million add-ons. He failed to impress in his first season at the club, having to play out of position due to Harry Kane's presence up front.
However, the Brazilian scored 11 goals and provided four assists in 28 Premier League games last season. He had to deal with numerous injury issues though, as he missed around 10 games due to different injuries.
Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou provides update on Richarlison and Destiny Udogie's fitness
Richarlison and Destiny Udogie both missed the last few games of the 2023-24 season for Tottenham due to injury. They also missed the Copa America and Euros with Brazil and Italy respectively. The duo went to Japan and South Korea with Spurs for their pre-season tour but didn't play a single game.
After Spurs' 2-1 defeat against Bayern Munich in their final game of the tour on August 3, manager Ange Postecoglou provided an update on the duo. He said (via tottenhamhotspur.com):
"We've still got two weeks (until the first game of the season). We'll get some players back this week - obviously the internationals will be back, Destiny (Udogie) is back training with us, Richarlison should be back in the week - so we'll get some of our top end players back into the group which I think will help.
"Once we get back we've got 10 to 12 days before our first game and we'll make sure we are ready."
Tottenham have had a decent pre-season so far, winning four and losing one game. They beat Scottish side Hearts 5-1 at Tynecastle Stadium before beating Queens Park Rangers (QPR) 2-0 at Loftus Road.
Spurs then traveled to Japan to Vissel Kobe, who they beat 3-2. They then moved to South Korea and beat K-League All Stars 4-3 before losing 2-1 against Bayern Munich. They will face the German giants again in their final pre-season friendly at home on August 10.