Tottenham’s dismal 3-0 defeat last Saturday served as a sharp reminder that spending heavily does not automatically translate into results on the pitch.
Roberto De Zerbi’s side made a worrying start to the new Premier League season despite a summer of significant financial outlay across multiple positions.
Savinho has arrived in a £75m deal from Manchester City, and Omar Marmoush is also due to sign in the forthcoming days, further reshaping the attacking options available.
For Richarlison, those arrivals carry an obvious message, with his grip on a starting place growing increasingly fragile as the window enters its final stages.
The Brazilian actually finished 2025/26 as Tottenham’s top scorer with 12 league goals, yet his display against Brentford was described as lacklustre, laboured and anonymous.
Fielded as the leading striker, Richarlison unforgivably gave the ball away in the build-up to the second goal and left the pitch after the hour mark having failed to register a single shot.
He completed just eight passes in that match, a performance that underlined why supporters have long treated him as the first name on their list of concerns.
Spurs are now pushing to sign Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo, with talkSPORT journalist Alex Crook revealing on social media that Tottenham are still “pushing” to seal the Dutchman’s signature this week.
Manchester City have burst into the race over the last 24 hours, but a move there is currently deemed “unlikely,” meaning Spurs remain in pole position to secure the forward.
Reportedly valued at £70m, Gakpo was described as “one of the best finishers in the world” by Liverpool writer and novelist Paul Tomkins, representing a substantial upgrade in quality.
The Dutchman scored nine league goals in 2025/26 but bagged as many as 18 in all competitions during Liverpool’s title-winning campaign under Arne Slot the season prior.
Per 90 minutes in the league last season, Gakpo completed 3.18 progressive carries compared to Richarlison’s 0.92, and 2.00 progressive passes compared to the Brazilian’s 1.01.
Gakpo also ranked among the top 3% for progressive actions compared to wingers across Europe’s top five leagues, completing as many as 5.18 per 90 minutes.
He ranked in the top 16% for expected assists in open play, further illustrating his creative output and his ability to influence matches beyond just goalscoring.
The fact Gakpo had scored more than 16 goals in each of the four seasons prior to 2025/26 underlines the level of consistency Tottenham would be adding to their forward line.
This transfer window has been constructed in three distinct phases for Spurs, beginning with defenders Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi and Jan Paul van Hecke arriving in quick succession.
Club-record midfielders Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali followed in the second phase, before attention shifted firmly towards improving the attacking third of the squad.
Football FanCast sources also believe that Chelsea duo Nicolas Jackson and Mykhailo Mudryk are both on Tottenham’s radar as alternatives should the Gakpo deal prove too difficult to complete.
It will be an expensive and complex deal to get done, but if it finally ends Richarlison’s time as the focal point of De Zerbi’s attack, Spurs supporters will not care one bit.