When Tottenham Hotspur started the 2025/26 season, new manager Thomas Frank immediately plugged and played Richarlison as his main No. 9, talking up the Brazilian international as a key player for his team whom he could revive as one of the Premier League's big attacking threats.
At first, Frank seemed to be true to his word, as Richarlison had a wonderful start to the Premier League season. He was very lively against PSG in the UEFA Supercup before the Premier League campaign even started, and then when it did, he was scoring goals at a respectable clip and even providing an all-around threat.
However, Richy's positive performances quickly dissipated, and even though he's been the one striker to actually be healthy, in a surprising twist, his performances on the pitch have been nowhere near good enough for Spurs.
Mathys Tel had a nifty game before the October international break in a win over Leeds United, but he's not a solution at striker - at least not right now. Dominic Solanke is still injured, too. So the only person now there to compete with Richarlison is Randal Kolo Muani, who just got fit enough to play a few minutes against Monaco in the Champions League.
Randal Kolo Muani is flat-out better
Although it may be too early for some to say, Kolo Muani, who scored 8 goals in 13 starts for Juventus last season and once had 15 goals and 11 assists in a campaign for Eintracht Frankfurt, is clearly the best option to start for Tottenham.
Part of that is because Kolo Muani's goal-scoring record in his career is actually more efficient than Richarlison's, but the biggest argument in RKM's favor as the main man at striker for Spurs lies in his skill set.
Kolo Muani, see, is an actual striker. He can comfortably drop in the hole and collect, stay up top and hold play up, assist, score, run the channels, and do all the thigns a striker can do. Richarlison, meanwhile, is a goal-scoring winger or a counterattacking center forward who is masquerading as a striker, whereas Kolo Muani has the frame, athletic tools, playing style, and mentality of a versatile player who is truly a striker but can fulfill that role in different ways.
Tottenham have to pivot to Kolo Muani immediately, because, right now, he gives them their only chance of having a box presence and yet also someone who has a real shot at creating goal-scoring chances for the wingers. Richarlison has done enough to lose his job to a more productive, new striker.