Richarlison leaves the pitch crying after suffering an injury five minutes into Spurs vs Southampton

Richarlison left the pitch in tears after apparently picking up an injury during Tottenham’s game against Southampton on Saturday.

The Spurs forward walked off the pitch five minutes into the game shaking hands with Antonio Conte before walking straight down the tunnel.

It was a strange start to the game at St Mary’s, as Richarlison was not the only player to leave the field with an injury in the first period.

Ben Davies also stopped with what appeared to be a hamstring injury, while Saints duo Armel Bella-Kotchap and Jan Bednarek also left the field with injuries.

Richarlison looked uncomfortable during the warm-up, adding further despair to an injury-plagued season the 25-year-old described as ‘s***’ after Spurs were knocked out of the Champions League following a loss to AC Milan.

Having arrived from Everton in the summer for £60m at the start of the season, the Brazilian has struggled to become a regular face in Conte’s starting XI, notably clashing with the manager last week, and the Italian agrees that Richarlison’s season has been that of ***’ too.

But it’s not the first time this season that the former Everton striker has limped off the pitch, leaving the field with a calf injury in Spurs’ 2-0 win against Everton in October, raising questions about whether he would be fit for Brazil in the World Cup.

He recovered in time to play in four of Brazil’s five matches in the tournament, scoring three times in Qatar, but suffered a hamstring injury during a quarterfinal loss to Croatia that sidelined him for three league games.

Since then, he has again made eight league appearances for the London club, but has failed to find the back of the net, despite proving a pivotal figure in Tottenham’s 3-1 win against Nottingham Forest last night. last week, which earned the London team a penalty. while he prepared Son Heung-min for Tottenham’s third.

But things have gone from bad to worse for the Spurs striker, who was uncomfortable during the warm-up before sustaining the injury on the pitch.

Sitting on the grass in dismay, Richarlison was comforted by his captain Harry Kane before walking down the tunnel.

He was replaced by Dejan Kulusevski, while Ivan Perisic came on as a replacement for Ben Davies.

While the nature of the injury remains unclear, it appears Richarlison will now join a growing list of players on Tottenham’s medical wards, which includes Hugo Loris, Yves Bissouma, Rodrigo Bentancur and Ryan Sessegnon.

Antonio Conte consoled Richarlison after he left the pitch, but had previously called the Brazilian “selfish” in response to his incendiary comments demanding more playing time.

“He’s right,” said the Italian.

“He started well with us, then he got injured and went to the World Cup and had another serious injury.

He has scored zero goals with us [in the Premier League]only two goals in the Champions League and the guy was very honest in saying that his season was not good.

‘His season is not over yet. If he deserves to play, I’ll give him the chance.

More to follow…