Chelsea failed with a last-minute attempt to hijack Richarlison’s transfer to Tottenham this summer, according to Fabrizio Romano.
The Brazil international looked an exciting talent during his time at Everton, and it’s not too surprising that there was a lot of interest in him this summer.
Writing in the latest edition of his exclusive column for CaughtOffside, Romano says that both Chelsea and Arsenal held an interest in Richarlison before his move to Spurs, and that the Blues even tried to hijack the deal really late on.
The transfer news expert says that Chelsea’s interest came on the night of Richarlison’s medical with Tottenham, but the 25-year-old ended up deciding on the move to north London anyway, with Antonio Conte seemingly a key factor in his decision.
“Chelsea made a bid for Richarlison during the night before his medical tests with Tottenham (made in Brazil); Richarlison had already an agreement with Spurs and same on clubs side, but Chelsea wanted to hijack the deal,” Romano said.
“Arsenal only asked for information, there was never an official negotiation. It was about the manager, as Conte really wanted him, and also Champions League football of course.”
Richarlison ended up moving to Tottenham for around £60million, according to BBC Sport‘s report at the time, and it will be interesting to see how he gets on after a bit of a slow start with his new club.
The former Toffees ace hasn’t scored a Premier League goal for Spurs yet, though he has netted twice in the Champions League.
Chelsea could have done with strengthening their attack with a talent like Richarlison this summer, though they ended up bringing in some other big names instead, with Raheem Sterling joining from Manchester City, and former Arsenal forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang moving to Stamford Bridge from Barcelona.