Signing Richarlison is Spurs making a statement signing, and it’s not quite the sort of statement fans Spurs are particularly used to.In a small but not insignificant way, there are echoes of the past in Spurs signing Richarlison. In 1978, they were heading back to the top flight after relegation a year earlier, and the arrival of Osvaldo Ardiles and Ricardo Villa, World Cup winners both, felt like a ‘statement signing’.
But the arrival of Richarlison does also mark another point on a roadmap that feels unusual to supporters of this particular club; Spurs are making sensible decisions in the transfer market. Now, there are obvious caveats to come with such a bold statement.
Clément Lenglet may be following from Barcelona and he does sound like a considerably Spursier signing, having been described by the Guardian’s Sid Lowe as a player who wentduring his time at Camp Nou, though Lowe does add that this may well have been a confidence issue, and if that is the case, then Conte might be the ideal manager for him. Lenglet is clearly not afootballer.