Chelsea FC are reportedly interested in current Fiorentina man and Manchester City loanee, Micah Richards. The move is likely in order to strengthen the right-back position and add some versatility to the squad at a very cheap price. The added benefit of Richards is that he would allow Chelsea FC to add another Englishman to the team since John Terry and Gary Cahill seem to be the only ones in the starting XI week after week since Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole left in the summer of 2014. The Blues have some talented young English players in the academy setup but none of course are experienced campaigners to the extent that Micah Richards is.
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During the Roberto Mancini era at Manchester City, Richards was a recurring name on the team sheet come match day. Between 2009 and 2012 he averaged about 30 appearances a season for City and in 2008-09 he made 50 total appearances for the Sky Blues. However, once Mancini was out the door and Manuel Pellegrini stepped in so did the Argentine Pablo Zabaleta. Zabaleta usurped Richards in the starting XI at the right-back position and thus came an end to the Englishman’s playing time at the Etihard. Since Pellegrini took over Richards played in only two Premier League games and was subsequently loaned out for the 2014-2015 season to Fiorentina.
Richards contract will also expire this summer with the Mancunians and he has been offered a contract by Fiorentina to stay in Italy since he has already rejected two contract extensions from The Citizens. Because of this instability, Chelsea are looking to sign him on a pre-contract agreement for free.
This means that if he signs the pre-contract agreement come the summer transfer window Richards will be a Chelsea player. There are some FA restrictions when it comes to English clubs signing each other’s players on free contracts in the January transfer window so the Blues would have to wait until the summer to make anything official. However they could agree with Richards and his representation on a deal in principle.
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Furthermore, Chelsea will face challenges to bring the youngest ever defender to play for England to Stamford Bridge with Inter also being interested in the once highly rated City youth player. Micah Richards will know that he is aiming to be a squad player if he joins Chelsea when he can likely start at a smaller club. However if he can return to his form before he was beset by injuries then he could force his way back in to a Premier League starting side.