Antonio Conte has explained why he substituted Richarlison during Tottenham Hotspur’s Champions League encounter on Wednesday night.
Spurs got back to winning ways in Europe with a narrow 3-2 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt in North London.
Richarlison, a £60 million summer signing, started the game but Conte brought him off for Oliver Skipp on 67 minutes.
With the Lilywhites holding a two-goal lead at the time, sacrificing an attacking player for a more defensive-minded one made complete sense.
However, Conte has revealed that the former Everton attacker actually ‘had a problem’ with his knee and although he hopes it’s ‘nothing serious’, time will tell.
He told BT Sport: “Richarlison played a good game. He had a problem in his knee. I hope it’s nothing serious for Saturday’s game with Everton.”
Tottenham simply cannot afford to have Richarlison – who earns £133,000 per week – out injured.
Yes, Dejan Kulusevski is on the way back and will be available for the clash with the Toffees this weekend.
But with Son Heung-min still erratic in the Premier League, having had two poor performances since his hat-trick against Leicester City last month, the Italian manager will need Richarlson to chip in with the goals.
Harry Kane is having a brilliant season but, as his penalty missed proved last night, he is still only human.
Hopefully for Spurs’ sake this Richarlison problem is nothing major.
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