Tottenham target opens up on rejection decision amid Richarlison ‘doubts’

Tottenham returned to action on Saturday evening, taking on Everton.

It has been a solid start to the season for Antonio Conte’s men, who are in the thick of the title race early in the season. Spurs also beat Eintracht Frankfurt during the week, giving their hopes of progressing in the Champions League a huge boost.

Conte’s men will want to have a good run in the Champions League this season, while also staying involved in the title race, even if they don’t wind up winning the big prize. In the meantime, we have rounded up all the latest transfer news and rumours.

Take a look below.

Chiellini opens up

Giorgio Chiellini has opened up on talk of him joining Tottenham, which emerged during the summer.

The veteran ended up joining LAFC in the US, and he says his age was the main factor in his decision not to try his luck in the Premier League in Spurs.

“Not as a player, at 36, I couldn’t do it,” he told Il Bianconero.

“When I saw the exhausted players in South Korea during pre-season, I wrote to Paratici. It reminded me that we went through the same thing.”

Richarlison doubts

Antonio Conte has admitted he had doubts over summer signing Richarlison, who has since got off to an impressive start for Spurs.

“I think when we play with three strikers, you have to know that your type of game is more direct,” Conte said. “Not with a lot of possession because you have three strikers, only two midfielders. On one side, you control the game less but on another side you know you have three strikers with Sonny, Harry and Richarlison. With the rest of the team, we have to put them in the best situation to score.

“Honestly, at the start, I had some doubts about the balance to put three strikers like Richy, Harry and Sonny, because you know very well you have to attack, but at the same time it’s important to have a good balance if you want to be competitive. At the start I had some doubts to put them altogether, but then when it happened, I had always a great answer about Richy, Sonny and Kane because we are talking about three strikers, but three strikers who work a lot for the team.

“This is why I think we can play with these three strikers because they give us a lot of potentiality offensively, but at the same time, defensively, we have a good balance.”