The Brazilian forward failed to find a new club during the summer transfer window and has since found himself frozen out at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Transfer insider Fabrizio Romano shared a quote from De Zerbi in which the Italian made clear that Richarlison, 29, remains no part of his plans.
"Richarlison will not play even if he's available. Not even in the Carabao Cup, no," De Zerbi said.
Richarlison responded in the comments section of Romano's post with a single crying emoji. It follows the forward being left out of Tottenham's squad entirely for Tuesday's Carabao Cup third-round trip to Anfield to face Liverpool.
The 29-year-old has also been omitted from Spurs' 25-man Premier League squad after asking to leave the club during the transfer window. A proposed move to boyhood club Vasco da Gama collapsed in the closing days of the market amid a reported disagreement over personal terms.
Asked directly whether that meant Richarlison would play no part at Anfield, De Zerbi offered a blunt response.
"No," the Italian said.
De Zerbi went on to stress that the situation was out of his hands as a coach.
"I stay in the middle and I can't say nothing more because it is not my job," De Zerbi said. "I can answer about the result and the players in the squad, the offensive phase, the defensive phase, but not for other things. What I have done at the beginning of this season has been to speak with him and to propose an extension of the contract. If he said, 'No thank you,' I finished my job. I said in the last press conference. I know what happened in the last 45 days.
"It's not right if I explained. It's not my behaviour. The relationship, the problem is between the player and the club. I stay within the club. It's coach and club together. At the start of this season I spoke to him many times to convince him to stay and he didn't want to. I can't go every day to pray for him to stay."
Hours after the press conference, Richarlison posted a screenshot of De Zerbi's comments on his Instagram story, adding the caption "Why?" alongside a sad emoji face. The saga leaves the Brazilian, a £50 million club-record signing from Everton in 2022 plus a further £10 million in add-ons, without a route back into De Zerbi's plans and without an exit before the transfer window reopens in January.