Real Madrid are considering a move for Manchester City defender Micah Richards if they fail in a bid for Inter’s Maicon, reports Sport.
Richards can act at right-back or as a central defender and is the latest name on a list of contenders to fill Madrid boss Jose Mourinho’s problematic right-back position, where the Portuguese is still not convinced by Alvaro Arbeloa despite his success with Spain at Euro 2012.
Although City are in no mood to sell the England international, Madrid know a bid of around €10m might test their resolve to hang on to the 24-year-old, who would command the same transfer fee as Maicon but is seven years younger.
Richards made his debut for the Blues aged 17 and broke into the England team one year later having played just 28 first-team games for his club, making his international bow against Holland in November 2006 and becoming his country’s youngest-ever defender.
However, despite being a regular when Steve McClaren was England boss, he fell out of favour when Fabio Capello took the reins and has struggled to break into the international set-up since, resulting in him refusing to go on the standby list for this summer’s Euro 2012 tournament.
