Never does a transfer window go by without Liverpool being linked with a move for Manchester City fullback Micah Richards and it looks like this won’t be the first one to do it with the out of sorts defender once again being linked with a move to Merseyside.
The Reds have reportedly bid for the now 25-year old for two summers on the hop, but the Citizens have been reluctant to let him move to a side that was thought to be, and, after last season anyway, has been confirmed as a direct rival. With Richards contract petering down and Bacary Sagna arriving from Arsenal on a free, Manuel Pellegrini may be persuaded to allow him to depart, but it would take some convincing to let his final destination be Liverpool.
The England man has been on the peripheries of the City first team with injuries and the ever present consistency of Pablo Zabaleta resigning him to a less than prolific role at the Etihad Stadium. Wtih Sagna now in the frame, Richards has been pushed even farther down the pecking order, and at 25-years of age, that would be a major problem for a player once seen as a future star for club and country. It’s safe to say that it’s time to get out of Manchester.
With Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers looking for defensive re-enforcements — and Glen Johnson unlikely to hold such a commanding role at the club next summer — the Northern Irishman could very well test City’s resolve with a bid rumoured to be in the region of £7mil. Though questions remain as to whether Richards will be able to get back up to the level that made him such a promising prospect to begin with, the blossoming of the likes of Daniel Sturridge, Philippe Coutinho and Raheem Sterling under the tutelage of the Reds manager is cause for optimism.
If anyone can fix whatever City broke, it’s Rodgers.
