Ange Postecoglou confirms £60m Tottenham star will not play against Aston Villa and hails ‘best’ replacement

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou has confirmed that Brazilian forward Richarlison, who arrived from Everton for £60 million in 2022, would not play this weekend due to a knee injury sustained in training.

The 26-year-old was unable to watch his teammates win against Crystal Palace last weekend, but he was present to support them. He walked without assistance, and there was rising speculation that he would play this weekend, but manager Postecoglou says he hasn’t trained this week and will be left at home.

The Spurs manager stated: “Everyone from last week is fit and available.” I’m coming back. Pedro [Porro] is good; he’s trained all week, so no worries. Everyone else, including Richy, is still not training with the main group and so unavailable.”

In Richarlison’s absence, Timo Werner opened his Tottenham account with a well-taken goal that helped Spurs earn three points. The German hopes to go on a run and score more goals before the campaign ends.

When asked what he thought of the German, who has two assists and one goal in six league games, the Spurs manager said: “I think he’s been very significant. You can only image how much more of a burden the other players in the group would have felt if we hadn’t brought him in January. Especially while Sonny was also absent. We tossed him in right immediately.

“And when you come in in January, especially for someone like Timo, who is a mature player, he isn’t a young guy we’re bringing in to develop; he’s coming in to make an effect, and I believe he has.

“I believe there is more to come from him. He is working hard in training. I believe his performances are improving. I thought last week was his best performance, aside from his goal, and it was also the best for us.

“That’s fantastic for us.” It’s also benefited guys like Brennan Johnson, Kulusevski, and others; as I mentioned, the responsibility would have been much heavier on those individuals if we hadn’t brought Timo in.”

Tottenham are aiming to avoid consecutive away league defeats against Villa for the first time since 2004.