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Man City’s Micah Richards travels to Fiorentina to complete loan deal Manchester City’s Micah Richards joins Fiorentina on a season’s loan
(about 14 hours later)
Manchester City’s longest-serving player Micah Richards is on his way to Fiorentina to complete a loan deal which could be turned into a permanent transfer next summer. Micah Richards has joined Fiorentina on a season-long loan, while Álvaro Negredo has completed an initial loan move to Valencia.
Richards is expected to pass a medical and complete personal terms with the Italian club before the close of the transfer window on Monday. Richards is City’s longest-serving player, making 245 appearances since his debut in 2005, but has struggled for game time in recent seasons having been usurped at both right-back and centre-half.
Richards has reluctantly accepted he needs to leave the club due to the form of Pablo Zabaleta and the summer arrival of Bacary Sagna, and decided to turn down City’s offer of a new contract and pay rise in April. The 26-year-old has reluctantly accepted he needs to leave the club due to the form of Pablo Zabaleta and the summer arrival of Bacary Sagna, and decided to turn down City’s offer of a new contract and pay rise in April.
After being rejected, City are keen to off-load periphery members of their squad as they look to trim their wage will and raise funds for new recruits within the limits of Uefa’s financial fair play rules. Matija Nastasic could also leave the club after City received inquiries from both Arsenal and Tottenham on Monday. Having travelled to Florence for a medical over the weekend, he has now joined La Viola until the end of the current campaign, with the Italian side having the option to make the move permanent at the end of the season.
Richards, with almost 250 appearances to his name since making his debut in October 2005, believes he needs a fresh start 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. Negredo’s move to Valencia includes an obligation for the Spanish side to buy the player at the end of the season.
West Ham were also linked with the 26-year-old but were thought to be put off by a loan fee and quite high wages. Both Sunderland and Newcastle had also expressed an interest. The 29-year-old impressed in what proved to be his only season in Manchester but was reportedly keen to return to his homeland, leaving the City manager, Manuel Pellegrini, with Sergio Agüero, Edin Dzeko and Steven Jovetic as his options in attack.
City paid £20m to bring the forward from Sevilla last summer after his previous spells with Real Madrid’s ‘B’ team and Almería.
The Primera Division club issued a statement that read: “Valencia Football Club has reached an agreement with Manchester City Football Club for the loan, with an option to compulsory purchase, the Spanish international striker Álvaro Negredo, considered one of the best attackers of the national and European football.
“The footballer with Valencian family will be presented tomorrow at the Mestalla. The club invites all Valencianistas to attend the presentation.”