By Alan Hutton

20th Sep, 2023 | 10:02am

Tottenham backed to sign Richarlison replacement amid 'massive' claim - expert

Tottenham will replace Richarlison in January if he doesn’t step up his game.

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, former Spurs defender Alan Hutton said Richarlison has been “longing” for the chance to be the club’s go-to man up front and needs to show he can handle the pressure.

The striker was named on the bench for the second league game in a row for Saturday’s clash against Sheffield United but was subbed on for the final ten minutes of normal time.

At 1-0 down, the 26-year-old scored the goal that brought them back into the game and set up Dejan Kulusevski for a late winner in London to continue the side’s unbeaten league run.

In recent games Ange Postecoglou has favoured Heung-min Son as the striker to fill the void left by Harry Kane.

But Hutton insisted Richarlison has what it takes to step up into that position.

“I do not think he will ever be Harry Kane, it is very difficult to emulate that but he has got the opportunity,” he told Football Insider.

“He scored one league goal last season but has now been given that chance he has been longing for in terms of playing up front. It is up to him now to prove to the manager that he is capable of doing that.

“He has had the pressure of playing number nine for Brazil which I think is a massive task and has taken that on his shoulders. Now he has to do that playing with Tottenham because if not they will go and buy somebody in January.“

In other news, Kieran Maguire makes ‘£29m’ Tottenham windfall claim – ‘we’re starting to talk telephone numbers’.