Watford winger Richarlison says players who claim finances do not motivate them are liars and admits he would consider a lucrative deal to leave Vicarage Road.

The mercurial Brazilian set the Premier League alight in the early stages of the season to attract admiring glances from the likes of Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur.

Such a move would bring with it obvious monetary incentives which the 20-year-old is fully aware of.

“Look everybody wants financial security for their family,” he told FourFourTwo. “when a player says otherwise, he’s lying.

“If I play at a really high level, opportunities will come.”

It would be remiss to suggest Richarlison, a player with the raw materials to sculpt a fine career at the very top, is merely a mercenary, and his main drive is to achieve on the pitch.

The form he showed early in the campaign has dropped off considerably since November and Richarlison has looked a shadow of his former self.

With this in mind, the former Fluminense man, who has five goals this season but none in his last 19 games, understands that only by raising his game in a Watford shirt will he fulfil his goals further down the line.

He said: “Right now my mind is focused on Watford. I will raise my level. I think about playing in the Champions League and being the top scorer in the Premier League.”

2018 has, so far at least, been a testing year for the youngster and he is yet to complete 90 minutes of Premier League football under Javi Gracia.

Substitutions have brought with them outbursts of emotion ranging from tears at Chelsea to throwing his gloves to the turf against West Brom – the international sign of discontent for the modern footballer it seems.

The sense is Richarlison’s irritation lies with himself rather than Gracia’s decisions and it is hard to stand up an argument to question the Watford boss’ thought process.

However, under former head coach Marco Silva, Richarlison was scarcely replaced and the two were known to have a strong relationship.

Indeed, it was the departed Portuguese who played an important role in snatching Richarlison from under the nose of Ajax last summer – somewhat of a coup for the Hornets.

“Watford’s offer came out of nowhere,” Richarlison explains. “Everything was arranged with Ajax when I got a call from Marco Silva.

“I changed my mind because to play in England was a childhood dream. I didn’t think twice before coming here.”