Celtic signing Micah Richards would be an absolute disaster

By David Walton

January 19, 2019

If Celtic did one thing in this transfer window, it had to be avoiding signing up Micah Richards from Aston Villa.

This is a deal that would’ve been a dream about six or seven years ago. These days, however, Richards is continuing a quite ridiculous two-and-a-half year spell out of first-team action.

Richards’ last senior appearance came all the way back in August 2016. To put it into perspective, Brendan Rodgers had yet to win a trophy at Celtic.

And out of nowhere, rumours were flying last week that there could be something in this on social media.

Micah Richards hasn’t played since 2016 (Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)

His last appearance in front of a paying audience did, however, come at Parkhead. This was in a charity game back in September in Stiliyan Petrov’s Match for Cancer. He hardly did enough in his 45-minute appearance on that day to convince anyone that he should be back playing regularly.

Of course, he remains a relatively big name. He made over 200 appearances after coming through the ranks at Manchester City. Playing under the likes of Roberto Martinez and winning Premier League titles, he has a fantastic CV.

Richards was highly successful, but not the answer now

He also has a highly impressive 13 England caps to his name. It shows just how highly-rated he was down south. But those days are firmly in the past.

Since leaving City in 2015, he’s had ill-fated spells at Fiorentina and Villa respectively. He’s made less than 50 appearances over the last three-and-a-half years, and has totally lost his way in the game.

If Celtic were to have sanctioned a deal for him, it wouldn’t just be for a player struggling for game-time. This is a player who’s regressed so much that he hasn’t managed a game for a struggling Championship club in over two years.

Richards has failed to make his mark at Fiorentina and Villa (Gabriele Maltinti/Getty Images)

One of Mikael Lustig’s main problems is his lack of pace. Richards looked incredibly slow during his charity appearance back in September. Celtic’s ambition, therefore, simply had to be a lot higher than that.

The likes of Timothy Castagne and Omar Elabdellaoui are more prestigious and appropriate targets. They’ve been playing consistently and are making waves in the game. They’re exactly the kind of product Celtic need to acquire to solve the right-back issue.

With all due respect to Richards, who’s had a successful career, a move for him would never have worked out. Thankfully, Celtic aren’t even considering it.