James Maddison<\/a> had just returned to training on Thursday after the shoulder injury he suffered at Brentford, but believes Saturday’s Premier League match at Nottingham Forest has come just too soon for the England international.<\/p>\n“I think no, because after two days after the problem with Brentford and another two weeks out, it\u2019s not the right moment,” explained the Italian.<\/p>\n
De Zerbi has pointed the finger of blame at Richarlison after leaving the striker out of his Tottenham squad for the season ahead. The Brazilian vented his frustration on social media this week, claiming the club were trying to force him into a move to Everton before the transfer deadline and that if he was going to leave, it would be on his terms.<\/p>\n
De Zerbi has since left the 29-year-old out of the squad registered with the Premier League for the coming season and Richarlison has not been training with his team-mates. Trabzonspor were looking to sign the forward ahead of the Turkish transfer deadline on Friday night with reports of a huge salary but that does not appear to have materialised.<\/p>\n
De Zerbi made it clear that he envisioned a different path for Richarlison and that he would have been happy for the club to take the one-year option on his contract, which otherwise ends next summer.<\/p>\n
“You don’t know one important thing, at the beginning of pre-season I spoke to Richarlison and asked him if he wanted to extend his contract because I was happy to keep him with us, and he didn’t want to,” said the Spurs boss.<\/p>\n
“Richarlison is a good player. He was important last season. He’s a good guy, but in the end, I had to stop myself putting pressure on the players if they show me they want to leave. So I’m sorry for him but we have to go to another page and work with Dominic Solanke and Omar Marmoush.”<\/p>\n
De Zerbi said Richarlison’s desire was not backed up with a strong offer from an interested club.<\/p>\n
“If a player says ‘I want to leave, I want to leave, I want to leave’, you have to have an offer behind you otherwise what are you doing?” said the Italian.v”And the right offer for him I think arrived after the transfer market closed. We received an offer before the transfer market closed and he didn’t accept.”<\/p>\n
The Tottenham boss has a new attacker in the shape of Mykhailo Mudryk, knowing the Ukrainian well after turning him into a star at Shakhtar Donetsk. His form there in a short space of time, including starring in the Champions League, earned him an \u00a389million move to Chelsea but he has not played a competitive match since November 2024, having been suspended after returning an adverse finding for the banned substance meldonium.<\/p>\n
The winger was given the maximum four-year ban by the FA but appealed against the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and it was lifted this summer. Now De Zerbi has been reunited with Mudryk after Spurs agreed a loan deal with Chelsea that comes with a \u00a375million option to buy him next summer.<\/p>\n
“I brought him from the Under-21s, I put him in the first-team. I gave him the chance to play against Real Madrid in the first XI in the Bernabeu,” said De Zerbi. “He was very, very young. 20-years-old. He played well. It was the first season for him in the first team. He played very well, [sometimes] he played not so well, but it was a way to do it.<\/p>\n
“And then from Shakhtar to Chelsea I think he paid a big price because different leagues, different countries, a different level of the club with a big, big responsibility because he knew the price Chelsea paid for him. But it\u2019s a normal process for a potential top player. Now I think he\u2019s 25, he\u2019s in the right moment of his career in a top club. I think it\u2019s the right moment for him to show what he can do.”<\/p>\n
![\"Mykhailo](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/0_Mykhailo-Mudryk-shirt.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Mykhailo Mudryk swapped Chelsea for Tottenham Hotspur on transfer deadline day to reunite with Roberto De Zerbi(Image: Courtesy of Tottenham Hotspur)<\/p>\n
De Zerbi hopes that Mudryk, who he calls Misha, will have the drive and motivation to finally kickstart his time in the Premier League after his struggles with Chelsea and then his long time out of the game.<\/p>\n
“I hope it can be the key for him, but Mudryk, he loves football. He lives for football. I have not seen many players like him with the mentality, as a belief, in the work during the week in training. He works double compared to other team-mates,” he said.<\/p>\n
“Maybe during the game he has to be focused on the ball, on the play, and he has to ask himself something more because his qualities are more than he showed until now.<\/p>\n
“I know him as a guy, as a player. I think it is very important about the motivation and then we will see during the season if he respects his talent and what he is able to do.”<\/p>\n
Tottenham turned to Mudryk after deals for Liverpool’s Cody Cakpo and Everton’s Iliman Ndiaye failed to progress, with the former staying at Anfield and Manchester City signing the latter.<\/p>\n
When asked whether Mudryk was always in the back of his mind as a potential option or was a last-minute idea, De Zerbi admitted: “No, in the last days. Not the last minute but the last days.”<\/p>\n
Some Tottenham supporters are concerned that De Zerbi could reinvigorate Mudryk only for the player to return to Chelsea next summer.<\/p>\n
“Yes but I can\u2019t decide the modality of the negotiation in the transfer market. In that moment we need one player in the left wing because we have just Mathys Tel and Mudryk. I think he is the right player especially in that moment of the transfer market. He wanted to come, he accepted because he had another couple of offers and I think it\u2019s a good solution,” said the Italian.<\/p>\n
Another player who can play off the left wing is Omar Marmoush and De Zerbi believes the Egyptian will provide an important option either of the flank or through the middle of the attack.<\/p>\n
“He’s a good player, and we will see in the season. Normally, if you consider the striker a big animal, he’s not an animal, but he has different characteristics. In Eintracht Frankfurt he played as a striker, he loves playing as a striker, but he is a different striker than Richarlison,” he said.<\/p>\n
“We have to play with the ball on the grass, short pass combinations, attack the spaces very good to use Omar for his characteristics.”<\/p>\n
One question mark hanging over Tottenham after their busy summer transfer window is whether they have lost too many physical, strong players in Cristian Romero, Kevin Danso, Richarlison and Joao Palhinha and could miss their ability in defending and attacking set pieces.<\/p>\n
“Yes, but we have Solanke, we have the centre-backs with physicality, and then, listen, to defend the set pieces, first of all, you have to have blood and the right speed to defend, because sometimes it’s the duel,” he said.<\/p>\n
“You have not to lose all duels because you are smaller than the opponent. We have Allan Dixon (Spurs’ team manager, ex-army man and player liaison officer). We can put Allan Dixon in the set pieces on the pitch, if you want?<\/p>\n
“But I think if you have not the spirit to fight in the duels – this part makes the difference. Also, the structure, the physicality, for sure. But we have a JP van Hecke, we have Van de Ven, we have Udogie, we have Bentancur, we have Solanke. Gallagher is very good in the set pieces. Why? Because he fights.”<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0_premium-canvas-1785322936436.png\")
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![\"Dejan](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/0_Dejan-Kulusevski-training.jpg\")
<\/p>\n