Steve Nicol says he can’t believe Tottenham paid £60m for Richarlison

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Steven Nicol has claimed on ESPN FC that he can’t believe Tottenham Hotspur paid £60 million to sign Richarlison from Everton this summer.

Antonio Conte was desperate to bring in a new attacker to compete with Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Dejan Kulusevski in attack. In Richarlison, the Spurs boss has found a player who can comfortably play in all three positions, thus providing cover for the trio.

The deal that Everton accepted for Richarlison could see Spurs paying as high as £60 million for the Brazilian if all the add-ons kick in (Guardian). That is a lot of money, and Nicol can’t quite understand why Tottenham have paid so much.

The pundit and ESPN FC Extra Time‘s host Dan Thomas got into a debate over Richarlison on their latest show. When the latter claimed that the Brazilian would be a guaranteed starter, Nicol was truly baffled.

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Steve Nicol says he can’t believe Tottenham paid £60m for Richarlison

“Richarlison – how many games is he going to get?” questioned Nicol.

When Thomas responded by saying, “A lot, a lot of games,” the pundit looked absolutely stunned.

“Richarlison at Tottenham?” Nicol asked. “So straight away, who’s sitting? Son?”

When the host claimed that Tottenham’s front three next season will be Harry Kane, Son Heing-min and Richarlison, Nicol responded by saying: “So, Kulusevski was brilliant in the second part of last season, and he’s at the door? Not a chance!

“Richarlison is not a finisher, by the way. I’m telling you, he’s not a natural finisher and I’m not so sure he’s going to play as many games as you think. I can’t believe they paid £60 million for Richarlison.”

TBR View:

Antonio Conte definitely has a big headache with respect to who he picks on the right flank, but this is a good headache to have.

Kane and Son are guaranteed starters at Tottenham irrespective of who they sign this summer. That leaves Dejan Kulusevski’s right-wing spot, where he’ll be asked to compete with Richarlison when the season starts.

As things stand, Kulusevski deserves to keep his place in the starting lineup. The Swede only joined Spurs in January this year, but he was absolutely brilliant for them in the 20 games he played in all competitions.

It really will be interesting to see how this pans out, but Richarlison definitely makes Tottenham a lot stronger than they were last season.

• Our View: Liverpool may have caused Richarlison to leave Everton in £60m deal