Willian excited by Richarlison potential

Eyebrows were raised at the near £50m price tag Richarlison commanded in the summer as he swapped life at Watford for a move to Merseyside.

But the 21-year-old has thrived for Marco Silva’s men so far this campaign, scoring six goals in ten games, which also earned him his first senior international call up for Brazil.

Richarlison has gone on to score twice in his four appearances for the Seleção so far and Willian is backing the explosive forward to continue his upward trajectory against Uruguay at the Emirates on Friday.

“Richarlison is doing very well with Everton,” said Willian. “He is one of the greatest surprises of the Premier League at the beginning of the season.

“Scoring goals, being a key player for his club. And in his first call up with Seleção he scored twice and did a great job.

“He has a lot of quality, knows how to score goals and has a lot of potential to help the Seleção.”

After a disappointing World Cup in Russia by Brazil’s high standard – they were eliminated the quarter-final stage by Belgium – there was calls by pundits and former players alike for wholesale changes to the squad.

Brazil manager Tite opted against axing several of his Russia World Cup flops and has instead retained 17 of the 23 from the summer for this week’s friendly with Uruguay.

And Willian has hailed his manager’s loyalty and strategy, believing consistency of selection and experience is crucial to Brazil returning to the top of world football.

“I think renewing the squad is something valuable, but we need to keep some experienced players to make the transition easier,” the 30-year-old added.

“This is part of a process that happens every four years. And Brazil always has a lot of youngsters and talented players to play for Seleção, and I’m talking about players who play in Brazil or in Europe.

“We have to choose wisely to get the best of each player. We want to keep our four-game winning streak going, so we will do our best at the Emirates against Uruguay.

“It’s the beginning of our work, new players, new squads, so playing well and winning is important to keep confidence on a high.

“I think it is going to be a great game and the supporters that will be at Emirates will enjoy what they will see.”

Willian has mixed memories of playing for Chelsea at the Emirates – acknowledging he has been involved in some titanic Premier League battles at Arsenal’s home over the years.

But the Blues winger is looking forward to locking horns with fierce rivals Uruguay at a ground he knows so well.

“Playing at Emirates Stadium is always good,” said Willian. “The infrastructure is great, ground is huge and is always sold out.

“Every time I was there with Chelsea the atmosphere was amazing, but as you said with all the supporters against us.

“Now, for sure, it will be different, because there are a lot of Brazilians in London and they will be there.

“I had the opportunity to play with the Seleção at Emirates Stadium against Chile in 2015. We won 1-0, so it will be my second game there with the Seleção, I hope we could win again and to see the Brazilian fans supporting us as it was against Chile.

“Brazil and Uruguay will always be a tough game. They have a lot of great players, and they also don’t give up anytime.

“They are natural markers, so we don’t have lots of space to create opportunities and make the game difficult.

“I remember our game against them during Russia 2018 Qualifiers at Montevideo. We won 4-1, Paulinho scored a hat trick. Uruguay scored the first goal and it was hard to come back and win there. It was one of our greatest game during the Qualifiers.”

Brazil face Cameroon at Stadium MK, Milton Keynes on 20 November (KO 7.30pm). Tickets from £25/£10 at www.mkdons.com/tickets