Tottenham Hotspur’s Richarlison has told ESPN Brasil that he was struggling with an injury for a long time before he underwent surgery.
At the start of November, the 26-year-old had groin surgery that saw him miss two games for Spurs and also two matches for Brazil during last month’s international break.
The Tottenham player has revealed he refused to go under the knife initially in order to not give up his place with the national team.
“I have been suffering since last season. I had been treating it, but it wasn’t helping, I had several injections in the area, I underwent several procedures and it didn’t resolve the problem,” he said.
“Of course, surgery was the last plan. As it didn’t work, I decided to have the surgery and I was also thinking about the club, the national team.”
UOL and O Dia have relayed the forward’s comments and both indicate he initially decided against opting for surgery in order to represent Brazil at the World Cup last year.
“I didn’t want to give up this, the national team, helping my teammates. I was also a little selfish, I saw that there came a time when I was getting in my way, that there was a time when I had to stop,” Richarlison explained.
“I made the right choice in having surgery, today I came back well. Now it’s time to continue and follow through.”
After the South American regained full fitness, Ange Postecoglou used him as a substitute in Tottenham’s draw against Manchester City and defeat to West Ham.
On Sunday, the coach handed him a start against Newcastle United and he responded by scoring a brace.
Afterwards, the player insisted he’s no longer struggling with pain.
“I’m much better than before. Now I feel confident, I feel 100%. I think this surgery helped me a lot to recover in training. Now I’m training without pain, and this is helping me a lot. It’s evolving every day now and thinking about the next game,” he added.
