By OkayGoal 
Tottenham Hotspur have made some genuinely baffling decisions over the past few years, but selling Brennan Johnson in January might just be one of their more defensible ones.
The Welsh winger barely got going in the first half of the season, and when Crystal Palace came in with £35m, ENIC took the money without blinking. Fair enough.
The real conversation, though, is about who comes next and whether Tottenham are about to repeat the exact same mistake they made with Johnson in the first place.
Because here’s the thing. Richarlison is doing what Brennan Johnson did last season by carrying the attack and keeping Tottenham afloat in a campaign that can very easily end up with the Lilywhites in the Championship. And it was his goal at Anfield on Sunday that made it ten for the season with nine of those in the Premier League alone. That is not nothing.
But if you’ve been watching Tottenham for more than five minutes, you already know how this story tends to end.
Richarlison is Tottenham leading scorer and that tells you everything
Ten goals from a striker who has been labelled “one of the worst signings in Premier League history” by Gabby Agbonlahor says more about the squad around him than it does about Richarlison himself.
Signed from Everton in 2022 for a big fee, he has managed just 30 goals in 126 games at N17. At Goodison Park, he scored 52 in 153 appearances. The drop-off is hard to ignore.
Last season was particularly rough with injuries limiting him to just five goals across all competitions. It was a campaign where he missed 40 games for club and country. This clearly shows how he is not a player you can build around over a full campaign.
What he is, right now, is a genuine short-term weapon. His record at Everton in a survival scrap was exceptional given he netted six goals in nine games to steer the Toffees away from the drop and this is exactly the kind of form Tottenham desperately need in the coming weeks.
Why selling Richarlison this summer is the right Tottenham transfer call
With just over a year left on his contract, this summer is the cleanest exit point that Tottenham are going to get. Hold him another twelve months and they risk losing him for next to nothing.
Tottenham can atleast cash in on him now and have funds to do something meaningful in the market, assuming, of course, that ENIC actually reinvest properly this time.
That last part is the sticking point.
When Harry Kane left for Bayern Munich in August 2023, Tottenham Hotspur did not sign a direct replacement. Johnson arrived on deadline day from Nottingham Forest. Mind you, he is a winger, not a striker. Dominic Solanke only came in a year later.
Postecoglou was left leaning on Richarlison as his main centre-forward through that whole first season. It was a mess, and the club is still dealing with the fallout.
Singing a #9 problem at Tottenham has never really been fixed
The Kane situation exposed something uncomfortable about how Tottenham operate in the transfer market. There was no succession plan. There was no contingency. And the same pattern risks repeating itself if Richarlison is sold without a proper replacement already lined up.
Solanke is there, yes, but questions about whether he is the long-term answer at the top of the pitch have not gone away either.
What Tottenham need this summer is clarity. Not just on who they bring in, but on what kind of club they actually want to be.
The Europa League win last season felt like a turning point that never turned into anything. Postecoglou was sacked despite delivering a trophy. The Champions League campaign has been underwhelming at best. And the Premier League table makes uncomfortable reading for anyone donning the Tottenham badge
ENIC cannot afford another summer of half-measures at Tottenham Hotspur stadium
Richarlison has done his bit. He has been one of very few Tottenham players this season who can hold their head up. But sentiment cannot get in the way of what needs to happen.
If Tottenham are to stay up (and that is still far from guaranteed), the rebuild has to be a real one, not another patchwork job with a headline signing and a lot of hope.
The Brennan Johnson saga showed that even the top scorer is not untouchable at this club. That same logic now applies to Richarlison. He is not the player to take Tottenham where they want to go.
Sell him this summer, reinvest properly, and actually build something. That is the job. ENIC cannot keep kicking that particular can down the road.
