Tottenham are leading the race for a new signing that may not please Richarlison after their previous encounter.
Tottenham are said to be frontrunners for Brennan Johnson’s signature this summer, as they attempt to sign Nottingham Forest’s star man – rated at £50million before Friday’s transfer deadline. However, the Wales forward has previous with current Spurs striker Richarlison, which may mean that a tough conversation has to follow if Ange Postecoglu gets his man.
Spurs are leading both Chelsea and Brentford in the race to sign Johnson, though no side are yet to meet Forest’s £50m valuation as they look to recoup a significant fee to help aid their Financial Fair Play concerns following a huge spending spree since they were promoted to the Premier League.
But should he leave Forest for Spurs, Johnson would be linking up once again with the player he savagely fouled hard after Richarlison showboated by performing keepy-uppies as his side saw out a 2-0 win nearly a year ago to the day. At the City Ground, home fans had already been incensed after Harry Kane’s brace, before Richarlison sent them into a furious rage that led to Johnson wiping him out.
Richarlison was left on the floor in pain as Johnson received a yellow card, though many pundits felt that the Brazilian could have perhaps expected the reaction. Speaking on commentary for Sky Sports at the time, Martin Tyler said: “That’s what you get for showboating at this level. Maybe it’s not right but…”
Before Liverpool icon Jamie Carragher added: “But it does wind people up, you can’t just boot people – you can’t do that, but what is he [Richarlison] doing? He has made a real impact since he came on, taken the game away from Nottingham Forest, the game is won, he just winds people up that lad. He winds me up.”
Newcastle striker Callum Wilson expressed a similar view on his podcast with West Ham’s Michail Antonio, as Wilson told The Footballer’s Football Podcast: “When I saw Johnson do it, I thought yeah man, that’s what I would’ve done as well. But I thought, no I would’ve hit him harder than that. He let him off.”
Their first encounter on the training pitch if Spurs sign Johnson should be interesting, but it is not the first time Richarlison has had to confront such a situation. Before the forward completed his £55m move from Everton to north London, he regularly clashed with soon-to-be team-mate Cristian Romero.
