Flamengo Eye Shock Move for Richarlison If Tottenham Hotspur Suffer Relegation

Flamengo will attempt to lure Richarlison back to Brazil if Tottenham Hotspur are relegated from the Premier League this season, SportsBoom can exclusively reveal. 

The striker, whose contract in north London expires in just over a year, previously represented the Rubro-Negros’ arch-rivals Fluminese before heading to England as a youngster. 

But with a number of high-profile players previously crossing the Rio de Janeiro divide, including the legendary Romario and Felipe Melo, officials at the Maracana are confident they could persuade him to return home should Spurs slide out of the top-flight for the first time since 1977. 

Richarlison is unlikely to remain in the capital should Spurs, who recently parted company with iterim boss Igor Tudor, the indignity of surrendering their elite level status given his international ambitions. 

Aged 28, competing in the Championship would almost certainly see him forced to give-up a place in The Selecao’s squad despite winning 54 senior caps and also representing his country at under-20 and Olympic level.

Spurs' Exodus On Cards

Richarlison scored five goals in 41 appearances for Watford during his solitary campaign in Hertfordshire, having left South America nearly a decade ago. 

His performances at Vicarage Road persuaded Everton to negotiate a potential £50m fee for his services, with the former America Mineiro centre-forward spending four seasons on Merseyside ahead of his switch to Spurs. 

Despite their struggles so far this term, they are currently languishing only a place and a point above the drop zone, Richarlison has netted 10 times in only 36 outings since August. 

Those figures are a marked improvement on the ones he returned during the previous campaign, when Spurs also flirted with the bottom three before going on to win the Europa League under Ange Postecoglou, who was duly replaced by the short-lived Thomas Frank. 

Leonardo Jardim, the Portuguese head coach, replaced Filipe Luis at Flamengo earlier this month and wants to make his mark on the squad by adding Richarlison.