Injury analyst Ben Dinnery has claimed that Richarlison now appears to be in a race against time to be fit for the World Cup.
Richarlison came off in the second half of Tottenham’s 3-2 win over Eintracht Frankfurt three weeks ago after going down with a calf problem.
Antonio Conte quickly clarified that the injury was not as serious as initially feared and that the forward would be fit to travel to Qatar (Football.London).
Although the former Everton man is yet to return to action, reports indicate that he is guaranteed to be on the plane to Qatar if he is passed fit before the World Cup (O Globo via Sport Witness).
Goal Brasil even reported this week that the 24-year-old should return to training soon and that he is expected to be in contention for Tottenham’s Carabao Cup clash against Nottingham Forest on Wednesday, November 9.
However, Dinnery has now suggested that while he initially expected the forward to be back in action before the World Cup, it is now ‘touch and go’ over whether he will be fit before the tournament gets underway.
The journalist told GiveMeSport: “I initially thought that it was going to be touch and go for him to play for Tottenham again before the break.
“The reality was his World Cup was never really in doubt, it’s just the case of could he get back for Tottenham and I guess it’s one of those ones where it’s very much touch and go.”
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This seems to be more of guesswork by Dinnery rather than being based on anything concrete. Even if Richarlison does not play for Spurs before the World Cup begins, one would still expect him to be fit before Brazil’s opening clash against Serbia on November 25.