Richards a potential recruit?

Earlier this week we were linked with a move for Man City defender Micah Richards. While I don't want to lend too much credence to a claim made by TalkSport, it is worth pondering all the same - if only because, if true, it would suggest a recognition on the part of the powers-that-be that Mathieu Debuchy needs to be forced to drastically up his game, and perhaps a tacit acknowledgement that we were wrong to let Danny Simpson go.

As regards Richards himself and whether he'd be the man for the job, some would argue that he's lost his way in recent years and wouldn't be worth the risk. However, I'd prefer to focus on his misfortune at having the league's best right back Pablo Zabaleta in front of him at City and both Glen Johnson and Kyle Walker in front of him for England. (Incidentally, for that reason I think the article's suggestion that he might choose to move to Liverpool or Spurs is ridiculous.)

Richards' nationality is of significance too, given the Silver Fox's admission at the weekend that "we are starting to get filled up with too many foreign players". Slightly surprising, that, given previous pronouncements on the make-up of the squad. It's as though someone's reminded him of his attack on Arsene Wenger and Arsenal back in 2006, when he was manager of West Ham: "It's important that top clubs don't lose sight of the fact that it's the English Premier League and English players should be involved". Not that that seems likely to deter us from wanting to sign Loic Remy on a permanent deal, mind (see below)...