Aston Villa had the opportunity to sell Micah Richards to West Ham United in 2016, but Roberto Di Matteo stopped the move happening.
Richards has endured a miserable spell with the Villans. The 29-year-old was relegated during his first season with the club, made just two Championship appearances last term and has not played at all since October 2016 when Steve Bruce took charge of the club for the very first time.
However, he may not have been available to Bruce at all had Di Matteo not decided that he did not want him leaving for West Ham a few months prior.
According to the Mail, the Hammers were willing to double Richards’ wages as part of a loan deal that had the potential to be converted into a permanent move, but Di Matteo decided that he wanted to keep the former Manchester City defender – only to play him twice before his departure.
West Ham fans will undoubtedly be quite pleased that Di Matteo put the block on the move as Richards’ career appears to have suffered significantly since the days when he was a key player during Manchester City’s incredible Premier League title win.
Meanwhile – with Richards not playing for Villa for well over a year – Villa fans will surely look at it as another reason to reflect upon Di Matteo’s appointment as a mistake that they seemingly took around a season to really put behind them.
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