Manuel Pellegrini will not make a decision on the future of Micah Richards ’ until next season, M.E.N. Sport understands.
The long-serving right-back’s contract with City expires at the end of 2014/15 but the Blues boss will not necessarily offer him a new one this summer or cash in before losing him for free.
Contrary to reports elsewhere City have not yet offered Richards a new deal. The Blues’ club policy is not to negotiate extensions during the season and they have not made an exception here.
Richards, 25, has endured a couple of miserable, injury-plagued seasons. Last term he made just eight appearances under Roberto Mancini and this year has pulled on a blue shirt 10 times with half of those coming in the FA Cup and Capital One Cup. His injury curse struck again shortly before City’s Champions League second leg clash in Barcelona.
Richards, who joined the club from Oldham as a raw 14-year-old, has often spoken of his reluctance to leave.
He is held in high regard and is seen as a shining example of the Blues’ youth policy. After bursting on to the scene with a series of robust performances at the age of just 17, he won his first England cap at 18. Such form saw him linked with a series of big-money moves with Jose Mourinho known to be an admirer and £20m mentioned as a potential fee.
That prospect thrilled officials at cash-strapped Latics, who stand to make 20 per cent of any sell-on following his move from Boundary Park. But a deal never materialised and Richards remained with City.
If he was to leave in the summer it is unlikely the Blues would receive anywhere near the figures being bandied about previously. However, with money eternally tight, Oldham would welcome any cash injection.
Richards is unlikely to make England’s World Cup squad following a stop-start campaign but Blues officials would point to his appearances, when fit, as an indication he is in Pellegrini’s plans.
In an ideal world he would compete with Pablo Zabaleta as part of a two-man axis similar to that on the other side of defence where Gael Clichy and Aleks Kolarov have split the season at left-back.
Richards himself told the M.E.N. in October of his desire to spend another decade with City.
“I’m not leaving City, it’s my club and I love it here. Ten more years – that’s my aim,” he said
