Brazil is four hours behind England at this time of the year. So Friday is just starting miles away from Tottenham, and Richarlison is about to have a very long day.
Vasco da Gama have until midnight local time – 4am Saturday in the UK – to get the forward signed. The good news for them is that they’ve made significant progress with the player.
O Globo report Vasco and Richarlison are now close to an agreement on personal terms. They’ve sorted the basic details of his salary and signing bonus. And there’s also been progress on allowing Richarlison to leave again at the end of 2026.
So, after all the drama of the past few days, the biggest problem is once again Tottenham.
Vasco have a new plan for Tottenham
Spurs rejected Vasco’s first offer of €10m (£8.7m) for 50% of Richarlison’s rights. The Brazilian club aren’t planning to suddenly double that amount. Instead, they’re trying to make the structure more attractive.
O Globo say Vasco want to keep the initial €10m (£8.7m) figure but have opened the door to buying the remaining 50% over the following years. The whole operation would run over four or five years, with payments starting in May 2027.
If Richarlison stays at Vasco, they would continue paying Tottenham for the remaining 50%. If he leaves, things get more interesting.
Vasco are prepared to include a clause allowing another club to take Richarlison and assume the outstanding payments owed to Spurs.
Funny enough, the striker isn’t really interested in committing his long-term future to Brazilian football. So he’s not being *that* helpful either.
Globo Esporte say Vasco have offered him a three-and-a-half-year contract, but Richarlison’s preference is still to play there until December and then reassess his options abroad.
That creates an unusual situation. Vasco need a long deal to make the finances work. Richarlison wants something which effectively gives him an escape route within a few months. They’re now trying to build both into the same operation.
Vasco think Richarlison can help pay for himself
Then there’s the small matter of his salary. Vasco have an interesting plan for that too.
A separate O Globo piece say the club expect Richarlison’s arrival to produce a huge increase in memberships. They’re using former Liverpool star Philippe Coutinho’s return as the benchmark.
His arrival reportedly brought around 20,000 new members into Vasco’s programme. The club believe Richarlison could generate an even bigger increase. And that extra revenue, in their calculations, could effectively cover his wages until the end of 2026.
It’s another reason they’re prepared to push so hard for a player who may only want to stay for a few months.
Vasco see Richarlison as someone who can change things on the pitch and provide an immediate commercial boost off it.
What’s happening at Tottenham
One other thing has changed since Thursday morning. Richarlison has really stepped away from the idea of trying to terminate his Tottenham contract unilaterally.
O Globo also report he was back working with the Spurs squad on Thursday. In their detailed article, Globo Esporte took a slightly more cautious approach, saying he joined the first-team group for the warm-up.
Either way, the legal route which threatened to blow the whole operation up appears to have been put aside.
Vasco believe there’s still room to improve their proposal and president Pedrinho and sporting director Admar Lopes remain in contact with Tottenham.
Now they need Spurs to agree to it. And the clock is running. But if it doesn’t happen, Qatar might end up being Richarlison’s only option.
