Richarlison reveals how Antonio Conte punished him for public outburst

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Richarlison reveals how Antonio Conte punished him for public outburst

Richarlison says Antonio Conte shouted at him for around two hours during a meeting at Tottenham after the Brazil international publicly criticised the Italian manager.

Spurs forked out £52m for the former Everton forward last summer but fitness issues mixed with poor form meant the 26-year-old only managed 12 Premier League starts in 2022/23, returning just one goal and three assists.

Tottenham limped out of the Champions League to AC Milan and Richarlison made clear his grievances over his lack of game time and what he called a 's*** season'. Conte labelled the forward 'selfish' in response but then backed him to recover in the latter stages of the campaign.

Richarlison has now claimed he was made an example of by Conte during a team meeting as punishment for the outburst.

He said on the Que Papinho podcast: "Of course I made a fool of myself by saying in the interview that I needed time and everything else, it was after the elimination in the Champions League, but then I apologised to him.

"I even told him that if he wanted to punish me, he could. We worked it out there, then I tried to have a run again, and another injury came up. Like it or not, it ends up affecting the head as well.

"He has to show his firmness also to the group, to say that he is there, that he is still in charge. It is his way of dealing with people, with the group, and he spent almost two hours just telling me off in the meeting, in front of everyone [laughs].

"Then the players even said: 'Richi, don't do this anymore. Stay two hours waiting' [laughs]. Everyone wanted to go, and we were there. Solved, fine.

"After they sent him away, I sent him a message. I apologised because he was the guy who asked for me to be hired, and I couldn't help him as much as he thought I could. The least I could do is apologise for what happened there."

Conte is no longer at the club with Ange Postecoglou installed as his successor as Spurs look to improve on a league finish of eighth last season.

Italian goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario has been brought in on a five year deal while James Maddison has arrived in a £40m move from Leicester.