As much as you rate Richards , you have to understand it's City who want to push a deal , and Everton rate Lescott too .
You can't really expect to get 50% of one of the best full back partnerships out there without a little compromising .
£8-9 MILL + Jo is simply unrealistic .
Believing Richards to have shown the same quality as Lescott is admirable , but a little unrealistic too in the eyes of any Everton fan .
He was our player of the year last year , and beginning to stamp his mark on the England team . He plays left back just as well , and also offers a formidable attacking option .
Yes , Micah is young , and has already achieved a lot of acclaim , but Everton can't afford to take on a player that goes missing as much as Richards did last year as a replacement for one who doesn't ( at least not regularly ) .
At just under 28 , Lescott is already in his prime , and ready to go .
Richards has huge potential , but can Everton wait for that to come to fruition when they are on the verge of breaking the top 4 now ?
We lose Lescott , and with Jags already out , we are without leadership across the back line a little surely . Is Richards a leader ?
We won't do a straight swap in a month of Sundays .
We might settle for either player plus a large figure .
We might settle for a huge fee outright .
We might invest elsewhere and keep Lescott . ( best option for us ) .
