Real money

FINGERS are again being crossed among the hierarchy at Athletic, with reports emerging of an impending bid from Real Madrid for Micah Richards.

The Manchester City right-back (24), who is in the Great Britain squad at the Olympics, is said to be the preferred right-back for Bernebeu boss Jose Mourinho over Inter’s Maicon (31).

A source close to Richards - who signed a four-year deal at the Etihad Stadium club last season - suggests there was interest from the Madrid club as long as six weeks ago, but there has since been no contact since. If a move does happen, a 10million Euro price tag has been mentioned.

Athletic are entitled to pocket 20-per-cent of any deal as part of the agreement reached when Richards left Boundary Park’s centre of excellence as a 14 year old.

That translates as a cash windfall of more than £1.5m — a massive amount for Athletic, which in chairman Simon Corney's words is “haemorrhaging” cash.

Richards ended last season out of favour, with Pablo Zabaleta taking up the right-back spot for the eventual Premier League champions.








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