Tottenham Hotspur letting go of talisman Harry Kane this summer and installing Richarlison as their main number nine would be an error of judgement, according to journalist Dean Jones.
What’s the latest news involving Harry Kane and Richarlison?
Kane continues to be linked with a move away from Spurs this summer, with Manchester United, Chelsea and Bayern Munich all having shown reported interest in the England international.
On the subject of Manchester United’s attraction towards the 29-year-old, former Spurs and Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov has suggested in an interview that Kane could ruin his legacy in north London by leaving his boyhood club, as per BBC Sport, stating: “I can understand and can relate to his situation. I feel for him, but at the same time, I think he is going to stay at Spurs. His legacy now is so great that he cannot force himself to tarnish it – when you say Spurs, it is Harry Kane and when you say Harry Kane, it is Spurs.”
In 2022/23, Kane has registered 29 goals and five assists in 47 appearances across all competitions, as per Transfermarkt; however, his future remains uncertain in N17, as his contract is set to expire in June 2024 and he hasn’t committed to signing an extension as of yet.
If the London-born forward does chose to leave in the off-season, journalist Jones thinks that replacing Kane’s ability to lead the line with Tottenham attacker Richarlison wouldn’t be a good idea, after seeing Richarlison has been mooted as a replacement for him.
Speaking to Football FanCast, Jones said: “I think it’d be a massive risk to go with Richarlison as your nine if you’re not replacing Harry Kane when he leaves. But at the same time, Richarlison’s not a bad player, he just hasn’t had a good first year. It’s not the first player that’s ever gone into a club and not settled straight away. I would still say that there’s a chance Richarlison can come good. If you’re going to bank on him as you’re number nine, you’ve kind of got to change the setup of the team, you’ve got to play a little bit differently. He might play differently if he was told he was going to be the main man if he wasn’t constantly trying to live up to Harry Kane, then that might change things too.”
Would Richarlison be able to fill the shoes of Harry Kane at Tottenham?
Probably not to the same extent, though Richarlison is still a good player that should be given another chance next campaign to really get his Tottenham career up and running.
All in, the Brazil international has featured 33 times for Tottenham in all competitions and managed to bag himself three goals and four assists, as per Transfermarkt.
Richarlison’s ability to work hard as part of his team is never in doubt. According to FBRef, the 26-year-old has performed well in relation to his positional peers in the art of successful aerial duels won across the last 365 days, obtaining around 1.07 per 90 minutes, meaning he ranks in the top 9% in this metric across Europe’s top five divisions.
Mundo Deportivo via The Liverpool Echo cited last year that Richarlison won praise from Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti, who said: “He is a modern and complete forward, not very sharp on his feet but coordinated and with great synchronization in the area. He is also strong with his head, although he is not a giant. For me, he is among the best forwards.”
Despite this, it would be wise for Spurs to enter the market for a forward this summer if Kane does depart the club, as they would need multiple attacking options to ease the prospective blow of losing their star man.
