Watford forward Richarlison leaves door open to possible future Chelsea transfer

Richarlison has seemingly left the door open to a potential future move to Chelsea, although the highly-rated Brazilian forward insists that he is not currently paying attention to any lingering transfer rumours as he looks to help Watford steer clear of relegation strife.

Chelsea and Manchester United - along with the likes of Ajax and Serie A duo Inter Milan and Sampdoria - were both linked with Fluminense's Richarlison last summer, according to The Mail, but Watford eventually jumped ahead of their rivals to seal a deal worth around £11.5m ($16.1m).

The 20-year-old's impressive form at Vicarage Road, particularly during the early stages of the season, meant that speculation over his future continued to simmer away in the run-up to the January transfer window, with the Mirror stating that Tottenham Hotspur were monitoring his progress.

Last month, Yahoo Brasil claimed that both Arsenal and Chelsea had made approaches to Watford for Richarlison and were in talks with the player's agent, Renato Velasco, over a possible deal.

Quizzed specifically about the ongoing interest from Chelsea during an interview with the Evening Standard, the former Brazilian Under-20 international, said to have penned a five-year contract worth approximately £20,000-a-week upon his arrival on Vicarage Road in August, did not rule out a future switch but reiterated that he was only concentrating on Watford at this point in time.

"In the future you never know but I leave all things like that up to my agents," he said. "At the moment my head is completely in Watford. I am not thinking about anything else and I want to help the team get as far as possible in the league. That is my objective, that is my focus and nothing else."

Richarlison hit the ground running at Watford and performed brilliantly in the team that rose as high as fourth during their honeymoon period under Marco Silva that came to a screeching halt in November amid interest in the latter from Everton.

A wretched sequence of just one win and eight defeats in 11 matches saw the sinking Hornets, who claimed the "unwarranted approach by a Premier League rival for his services" was a catalyst for their decision, to surprisingly part company with Silva after only eight months in charge in January.

A cryptic tweet posted by Richarlison in the aftermath of that sacking led to renewed speculation that he could be unhappy at Watford, though he has since started all of Javi Gracia's first four matches in charge - including the shock 4-1 demolition of Chelsea on 5 February during which he was seen in tears after being substituted in the second half.