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If you’ve been watching the Richarlison situation at Tottenham Hotspur with interest, you may find the latest comments from Amir Murillo interesting.

He played for Marseille while Roberto De Zerbi was at the French club, but it was not a happy relationship to say the least.

Murillo spent two and a half years at the club, before being sold to Turkish side Beşiktaş in January 2026. That transfer came about after a very public falling out with De Zerbi.

As Marseille’s season fell apart last year, De Zerbi turned on the defender, growing frustrated to the point he then directly questioned his performances and mentality in front of the rest of the squad.

Murillo was told he wasn’t part of the plans moving forwards, leaving the defender stunned. It quickly became a talking point among the players in the squad. Murillo was then sold to Beşiktaş.

Now he’s set to return to his former club in Europe. And he wants to make it clear that there’s no hard feelings. Instead, his focus is very much on the now Tottenham boss.

“Everyone saw that I had an issue with the coach,” he said at a press conference ahead of the game.

“It had nothing to do with the club or the team. I think it was just something personal on the coach’s part – something I felt, in a way, was disrespectful. They practically forced me to leave the club, and that is how I ended up at Beşiktaş.”

Richarlison repeat

Does this all sound familiar? Well, it should do, because Richarlison finds himself in a very similar situation at this moment in time.

His refusal to leave Tottenham this summer – at least on their terms and not his own – has led to a very public response from De Zerbi.

The Italian coach seems to be going out of his way to ensure Richarlison’s life at the club is as miserable as possible.

And it seems he’s not the first one to get the treatment. Indeed, as Murillo can attest, it’s kind of a familiar scenario for the Tottenham coach.

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