Manchester City have offered England defender Micah
Richards more than £2m a year to keep him from Manchester United
and a host of other Barclays Premier League clubs. Richards has
been stalling on signing a new five-year contract at the City of
Manchester Stadium while he waited for his father to assume control
of his financial affairs from the SEM group, from whom he is in the
process of splitting.
Richards who plays for City against Blackburn at home tonight
has been offered a deal to make him one of the club's highest-paid
players and will take home £50,000 a week if he agrees to
stay.
With United looking for a long-term replacement for Gary Neville
and Chelsea still interested, Richards knows that he will not be
short of offers if he decides to look elsewhere.
City manager Sven Goran Eriksson said: "I am not sure how close
Micah is to signing but I know that he will sign. I have spoken to
him and he is very happy at this club.
"We would like him to stay here for the rest of his career if
possible. There is no reason why that shouldn't happen and we have
offered him something that reflects how highly we value him."
Meanwhile, City have offered a trial to Iraqi midfielder Nashat
Akram. Akram, 23, was voted the third best player in Asia at the
2007 Asian Player of the Year awards and has over 60 caps.
Akram will travel to City next week for a ten day trial and follows
Saudi Arabia captain Yasser Al Qahtani, who came over for a trial
last week.
