Richarlison “speechless” on prospect of leaving Everton

Everton’s financial situation means they might have to part with some players this summer to fund the rebuilding of a mismatched squad, and none of those that might leave is more attractive to buying clubs than Brazilian forward Richarlison.

Already linked with a number of clubs including Real Madrid, PSG, Manchester United and Tottenham even before the summer when it still looked like Everton might go down, Blues have been curious to hear what the player himself thinks about his future.

The player is currently with the Brazil national team preparing for this year’s World Cup with two warm-up games in Asia, playing South Korea on Thursday and then Japan on Monday. Speaking to Brazilian media outlet Globo, the 25-year-old talked about the conversations he’s had with club leadership already.

“I’ve already made it clear to the board, I’ve already talked to Lampard too, with my managers and they know what I want. Let’s wait for June.

“Now I can’t talk, because when I talk about leaving a club I’m kind of like this, because of the history I have at Everton, the affection that the fans have for me, when I talk about leaving I’m a little speechless.

“In the national team, the mind is always good, this is my home, the season is exhausting, even more that we were in the lower zone of the table, it was a little heavy. We managed to escape relegation in the final part, my physical form is fine, it is to play these two good games to be able to make the move to the Cup.”

It was an interesting choice of words from Richarlison there, non-committal whether he was staying or indeed leaving. Though that can also be read as why would he bring up leaving unless it was happening.

Richy has certainly made his impression on the club’s supporters with his untiring effort and how he wears his large blue heart on his sleeve in person and on social media, and there are few more popular players on this current squad.

As mentioned previously though, the forward’s strong end to the season means once again he is in the spotlight and he could feasibly be at peak value for the Toffees. He still has two years of his contract (after signing an extension in December 2019) and is on a very affordable (for a richer club) £90,000 per week wage (other reports have said £110,000 per week), but with Everton already likely to clear about £400,000 per week in player salaries is it really necessary for the Blues to sell him?