Stan Collymore reckons Tottenham boss Antonio Conte could be the man to turn Richarlison into the player he has long threatened to be — just as he did with Romelu Lukaku.
Striker Lukaku never quite hit the heights people expected him to in the Premier League, doing well with West Brom and Everton but not as well as it was hoped he would with Chelsea and Manchester United either side of his time at The Hawthorns and Goodison Park.
Lukaku blossomed fully during his days working with Conte at Inter Milan, though, and earned himself a big-money move back to Chelsea.
Although that hasn’t worked out either and he is now trying to work his way back to Inter. Conte is no longer there, of course, and is instead at Tottenham, where he wants to link up with Everton star Richarlison. And former Liverpool and Aston Villa striker Collymore, a Mirror Sport columnist, is confident he’s the manager the Brazilian needs at this stage of his career.
Collymore said: “Richarlison is a strange one — he’s confident, he’s cocky but I haven’t seen him dominate a season since he has been in English football. There have been spells where he has made me go, ‘Crikey, this kid has everything: he’s built like a bulldog, he’s a beautiful athlete and he has an undoubtable ability to score goals’. But I’m yet to see him take a campaign between the teeth in the way he should, and that’s why Tottenham’s belief in him is interesting.
“Perhaps Conte is the man to shackle his excesses and turn him into a proper player. By that, I mean I just want to see him being a functional forward who scores goals with good movement. I don’t need the multi-coloured hair, the trolling of Liverpool fans, the sniping at Jamie Carragher on Twitter, because that’s more what he’s known as for now instead of being someone you’d bank on for 20 goals a season.
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“But if Conte could get into him like he did with Lukaku then he’d be brilliant for Spurs, because with Heung-min Son and Harry Kane he’d be interchangeable. Everyone would be walking off the training pitch at 1230pm and he’d get a, ‘Not you, son, you’re staying with me’, from Conte. And he’d benefit big time from it.”
The 25-year-old has been linked with Arsenal and Chelsea as well this summer but reports in his homeland say Spurs are in the box seat. Just a couple of years ago, Everton were telling suitors they’d have to pay up to £120million for his services. But Spurs are in advanced negotiations for the player for around £50m as Conte continues his rebuild in north London.
Chairman Daniel Levy has handed Conte £150m to spend this summer as the club look to get busy in the transfer window. They have already signed Croatia star Ivan Perisic on a free transfer, and told Harry Winks and Sergio Reguilon they are surplus to requirements and can leave during this transfer window.
