Richarlison has completed his big-money move to Tottenham – but how will he compare to the other Brazilian players who have played for the Lilywhites?
The 25-year-old, who has cost Spurs an initial £50million, will be just the eighth Brazilian to represent the club in the Premier League.
We’ve ranked the seven Brazilians that have made a first-team appearance for Spurs, not including any players that only played for their reserves.
7. Gilberto
The first Brazilian to play for Spurs’ senior side, Gilberto arrived in January 2008 but didn’t have the same impact as his namesake in the red half of north London.
He endured a disastrous debut against PSV Eindhoven in the UEFA Cup last-16, making a mistake that led to the Dutch side’s only goal before being booked and getting hauled off at half-time.
While the left-back came off the bench to score in a 4–0 win over West Ham United on his Premier League debut, he continued to struggle defensively and made just eight more appearances for the club.
His performances at White Hart Lane even led to a particularly brutal Daily Mail headline that read, “Brazil finally produce rubbish footballer.”
Gilberto’s contract at Spurs was terminated by mutual consent at the end of the 2008-09 season, and the defender returned to Brazil with Cruzeiro.
“I want to say sorry with all my heart to the Tottenham fans,” Gilberto later told ESPN. “I’m gutted that it didn’t work. I would have loved to have stayed, but I got branded very quickly. There were some great people at the club, but it was a bad time for me personally.”
6. Paulinho
Tottenham received £86million for Gareth Bale in 2013 and reinvested just shy of £17million of that money on Paulinho, who had been starring for Corinthians and Brazil.
The midfielder produced a man-of-the-match performance on his debut but failed to build on that promising start, showing only fleeting glimpses of his ability and struggling to make a mark on Premier League games.
His Spurs career never really recovered from a horrible game against Liverpool in December 2013 where he saw red, Spurs were thrashed 5-0 and Andre Villas-Boas lost his job as manager.
Mauricio Pochettino was appointed Spurs boss ahead of 2014-15 and only had to work with Paulinho for half a season before selling him at a loss to Chinese side Guangzhou Evergrande.
“I really cannot say a bad word about the club or the staff or the president,” he later told the Players’ Tribune when…
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