Tottenham Hotspur have been dealt a blow in their chase of Watford’s young midfield star Richarlison as the Hornets claim they would never sell the player in January.
Spurs are among several teams interested in the young Brazilian, and a January move for the 20-year-old was mooted, but it seems that Watford have no intention of letting their star go.
Richarlison, an £11.5million signing from Fluminese in the summer, has been a revelation for Marco Silva this season, managing five goals and four assists in 13 Premier League appearances.
Watford chief executive Scott Duxbury has now spoken out about the player, and issued a warning to those teams looking to sign the youngster.
Speaking to the Evening Standard, Duxbury said: “We want Richarlison to be here for many more seasons. We are building a very competitive squad, we have no need to sell.
“We believe in the season being a race and that’s why we will never sell a player in January who we believe will help us. Nobody will be sold that we don’t want to. None of the players making an impact now will go.”
OPINION
After playing hard ball over Everton’s approach to sign their manager Marco Silva, it appears that Watford are now preparing to do the same with regards to their star player. Richarlison has quite rightly attracted the attention of England’s top teams, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him end up somewhere like Spurs in the near future. But it does seem as though Watford have turned a corner with regards to holding on to talent, and a January move for a player who joined so recently would seem unlikely. The only situation that would possibly see Richarlison move in January would be if the player himself submits a transfer request. That would be a strange and extremely harsh move from the Brazilian, but you never know in this transfer climate.