Thursday 19 February 2015 13:36, UK
Micah Richards revealed that he misses life at Manchester City and still harbours hopes of an England recall.
Richards - who is 'loving' life at Fiorentina after joining on a loan deal in the summer - was speaking from London ahead of the Italian club's clash with Tottenham in the Europa League last 32.
The 26-year-old defender saw first-team opportunities diminish as City secured their second Premier League title last season and missed out on a winners medal due to lack of first-team action.
Despite this disappointment, Richards admitted it was a tough decision to leave a club he had spent his entire professional career with, and insisted things would have been different if the squad hadn’t seen such an overhaul.
“If we didn’t get the investment we did, I’d probably be captain now,” Richards told the Daily Telegraph.
“I probably wouldn’t have left. I had a chance to go to Chelsea five years ago, and Manchester United.
“I always enjoyed City. They gave me a chance at such a young age (17).
“It was emotional because I was at City for a long time, but some day I’ll be back there in some capacity, maybe not coaching, I’d like to scout players.
“I do love City. City fans have always been great to me."
England is a touchy subject.
Richards has 13 England caps to his name, the last of which came under then-caretaker coach Stuart Pearce in 2012.
Being left out of the England Euro 2012 squad still doesn’t sit well with Richards, but he insisted he would still love to don the Three Lions' shirt again.
“England is a touchy subject,” Richards added.
“It was a weird situation because I got a call from Stuart Pearce (to say he was not in Euro 2012 squad).
"Why’s he ringing me? Why not Hodgson? Stuart said: ‘Roy’s not going to take you to the Euros but he wants you to go on standby.' I was angry.
“There are right-backs performing better than me now but I don’t believe they have better attributes than me. People always say to me: ‘You should be England's right-back'.
“I know how good I am as a player.”
