Manchester City confident Micah Richards will sign new deal• Right-back wants more money and playing guarantee
• Joleon Lescott also in the frame for new contract
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inShare.0Email Jamie Jackson
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 6 July 2013 16.05 BST
Manchester City's Micah Richards is expected to sign a new contract even though talks on the deal have stalled. Photograph: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images
Manchester City are confident that Micah Richards is happy at the club and will sign a new contract despite talks stalling due to the right-back wanting assurances about regular playing time.

Richards, who has two years remaining on his deal, has spoken to Manuel Pellegrini and been told by the coach that he is an important part of his plans. Richards also believes he deserves an increase in salary on his present earnings of around £65,000 a week.

While there is reported interest from Internazionale, it is thought that Richards's preference is not to play abroad at this stage of his career. The 25-year-old endured an injury-plagued campaign last season due to an ankle problem he picked up playing for Team GB at London 2012 and a knee injury that then ruled him out from late October to mid-April. He has been undergoing specialised work during the close season to strengthen his fitness.

Meanwhile Joleon Lescott, who has a year left on his contract, has been told he does have a future at City if he wants to remain at the club. Kolo Touré's departure to Liverpool has strengthened Lescott's position recently but he had slipped down the pecking order under Pellegrini's predecessor, Roberto Mancini, and he is keen to play regularly next season before England's prospective participation in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Gareth Barry, who also has only 12 months remaining on his contract, may well depart as he is conscious that Fernandinho's £30m arrival means his first-team chances will be limited.

Sevilla's Alvaro Negredo is being monitored by City. The 27-year-old is one of a number of strikers who are potential targets for the club, with Benfica's Oscar Cardoza another.

Manchester City's Micah Richards: There are no weaknesses in this squadManuel Pellegrini's free-scoring side are a far cry from Stuart Pearce's team. Micah Richards is savouring the good timesFollow Louise Taylor by emailBetaShare 5

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Louise Taylor

The Guardian, Thursday 16 January 2014 22.30 GMT
Micah Richards, left, said Manchester City 'don't want to get too excited about the quadruple'. Photograph: Jason Cairnduff/Action Images
Micah Richards can remember the days when, try as they might, Manchester City simply could not score at home but they seem part of a very different world. After Wednesday night's 5-0 FA Cup demolition of Blackburn Rovers, the defender cast his mind back to spring 2007.

Back then City, managed by Stuart Pearce, failed to score in their last eight league games of the 2006-07 season at the then City of Manchester Stadium, going 12 hours and 18 minutes without a goal. Indeed they scored just 10 Premier home goals all season and 29 in total, with Joey Barton their top scorer after netting only six times.

"Under Stuart Pearce we didn't score for something like five months here," said Richards, whose prolific side are challenging for the quadruple having got 99 goals this season in all competitions. "It was ridiculous! How times have changed, eh?

"A massive thanks to Sheikh Mansour for changing everything and for coming in and investing in the squad. It's good times and every player wants to be here because this is the club to play for at this moment in time."

As a rare survivor from the old days, Richards has a different perspective from many team-mates. "You savour these good times all the more because of back then," he said. "Every day, I come in and I see the players I'm playing with and compare them to the players I was playing with seven years ago. My team-mates are all internationals now. It's a different kettle of fish."

For a start Manuel Pellegrini is blessed with what sometimes seems an embarrassment of riches. "I just hope we stay together and grow as a squad and try and keep everyone happy because it's hard when everyone is not playing every week," said Richards. "But if we can keep this squad together, we will do great things. I think we're doing so well because we have such strength in depth. There's quality all over the place."

Not that he is getting carried away. "We don't want to get too excited about the quadruple," said Richards. "We want to stay in every competition and I think with the squad we have, we should still be in every competition. Apparently our second-string team beat Blackburn 5-0. I don't think there are any weaknesses in the squad."

City's strikers represent a particular strength. "I think they've got everything," he enthused. "I think Sergio [Agüero] has pace and power. Edin [Dzeko] is a good finisher and good in the air. [Álvaro] Negredo runs around like a man possessed and is a great finisher. And [Stevan] Jovetic has skill and technique. They've all got something, some sort of gift to bring to the team and it just seems to be clicking at the moment.

"If we want to win the league, if we want to win trophies, they are going to be key. Last season it was more about defenders doing well. I think this season it is more about the attackers and that's why we look so good.

"It's hard to say if there are three better strikers in Europe because Luis Suárez is up there for me. Robin van Persie when he's on fire, and even Wayne Rooney. I know he's a Red, but when he's on fire, there are few players much better than him."

Micah Richards to leave Manchester City in summer despite contract offer• Defender turns down improved terms for regular action
• Four other English players set to depart the Etihad StadiumShare 160

inShare.0Email Daniel Taylor

The Guardian, Tuesday 8 April 2014 16.17 BST
Micah Richards will leave Manchester City in the summer in search of regular first team football. Photograph: Imago / Barcroft Media
Micah Richards, Manchester City's longest-serving player, has reluctantly accepted he needs to leave the club and decided to turn down their offer of a new contract and pay rise.

Richards, with almost 250 appearances to his name since making his debut in October 2005, believes he needs a fresh start elsewhere to play more regularly and try to rediscover the form that enabled him, at 18, to take Rio Ferdinand's record as the youngest defender to win an England cap. His move will be part of a gradual exodus of English players from the Etihad, with at least four others on their way out in the summer.

City had been trying to dissuade Richards from joining that list, offering a new deal with improved terms, but Pablo Zabaleta has established himself as Manuel Pellegrini's first-choice right-back this season and that has been uppermost in Richards' mind.

His talks with Pellegrini have been amicable and there is an understanding within the club that it has been a difficult decision for a player who has been involved with them since the age of 14. City will want around £7m for the 25-year-old, citing his importance in their title-winning season before injuries allowed Zabaleta the chance to take over on the right-hand side of their defence.

Richards was nominated for their player of the year award that season – described by Gareth Bale as the most difficult opponent he faced in England – but there have been times in the current campaign when he has been fully fit and not even among the substitutes. After losing his place as a regular in England's squads, the past two years have become increasingly difficult, culminating in him being restricted to only 10 starts at City in Pellegrini's first season at the club.

The news has been partly expected at City and the club have already started making contingency plans, sounding out Bacary Sagna to determine whether the Arsenal defender is tempted by a move to Manchester. Sagna has been locked into a contract dispute with Arsenal because of the club's willingness to offer only one-year deal extensions to players in their 30s. Richards, a boyhood Arsenal fan, would be a contender to replace Sagna if the 31-year-old France international leaves north London.

Richards has also been linked with Liverpool and Newcastle and should not be short of options. The defender has 13 England caps but has not featured under Roy Hodgson and is determined to resurrect his international career. His departure could feasibly leave City with only two English players in their senior squad.

Jack Rodwell, the £12m signing from Everton, is available after two injury-troubled seasons at City while Joleon Lescott has already confirmed he will leave and Gareth Barry is working on the basis that his time at City is finished. He will have plenty of offers after a successful year on loan at Everton, with the strong possibility that he will be tied to a permanent deal at Goodison Park.

Scott Sinclair, on loan at West Bromwich Abion, is likely to leave while Richard Wright, the third-choice goalkeeper, is out of contract at the end of the season and that leaves James Milner and Joe Hart as potentially the only senior Englishmen in Pellegrini's squad.

Milner, like Richards, has also been frustrated by his inability to win a regular place in the side and is open-minded about his future, but City intend to hold talks with him about a new contract. Dedryck Boyata becomes a free agent in the summer and the Belgian defender is also expected to leave.

Not a case of getting his shit together though is it?

Micah, a bit like SWP, Ireland & Johnson, is a decent player with tonnes of commitment but lacking the quality that we need at City these days. His last performance before he got injured yet again, was typically full of banzai tackling and charging runs down the wing. Sadly neither were really in control or contributed much to attack or defence.

Lovely bloke but needs to get regular football and he's only going to get that at somewhere like Villa, Sunderland or United.

he was in belting form up until the bastard olympics and his ankle knack,

‘Home-grown players’ are defined by UEFA as players who, regardless of their nationality or age, have been trained by their club or by another club in the national association for at least three years between the age of 15 and 21. The UEFA rule does not contain any nationality conditions. It also applies in the same way to all players and all clubs participating in competitions organised by UEFA.