Handshake drama! Richarlison set to snub Michail Antonio prior to kick-off of next Tottenham vs West Ham game after being mocked by him on a podcast

• Richarlison mocked for small goal tally
• Brazilian set to snub Antonio handshake
• Tottenham face West Ham in December

WHAT HAPPENED? West Ham's Antonio and Newcastle United's Callum Wilson mocked Richarlison for scoring just one goal last season and quipped the Brazilian, who had several goals chalked off in 2022-23, was "close to a suspension" after repeatedly taking his shirt off in celebration. In June, the 26-year-old responded by asking how many goals had they scored in a World Cup - to which the answer is zero as Antonio's Jamaica haven't qualified for a World Cup since 1998 and Wilson is yet to score at such an event for England. It seems Richarlison, who scored three goals in Qatar last year, is still holding a grudge as Antonio says West Ham team-mate and Brazilian international Lucas Paqueta told him his handshake won't be accepted.

WHAT THEY SAID: Antonio said on The Footballer’s Football Podcast: "I am no longer commenting on Richarlison. It's got to the stage where I just feel like some people are a bit touchy, so I don't want to touch nothing that are making people touchy.

"Obviously I'm not going to speak about the person who is in the position, I'm just going to say Tottenham need to sign a striker and I'll leave it at that.

"I've gone to Paqueta, obviously they play with each other [for Brazil]. I was like: 'What's wrong with your boy? It's a bit of banter, I don't understand why he's taking it so personally', to the stage where his manager has to talk.

"We banter ourselves, we banter each other. Lucas is like: 'It's just how he is, Michy. I told him that's how you are but he says: 'No, no no, when we play against them, I'm not going to shake his hand'.'"

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Spurs, who sold record goalscorer Harry Kane to Bayern Munich earlier this month, host West Ham at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on December 5. It remains to be seen if tensions will have eased between the two by then. However, if Richarlison, a £50 million ($63m) signing from Everton in July 2022, fails to improve on his goal tally from last term, Antonio and Wilson, who bagged five and 18 goals in the league respectively in 2022-23, may secretly continue to poke fun at him and Spurs.

IN THREE PHOTOS:

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WHAT NEXT? West Ham, Tottenham, and Newcastle all return to Premier League action this weekend.