West Brom transfer news as Aston Villa interested in Rico Richards after Hawthorns exit
Aston Villa are interested in signing Rico Richards this summer following his West Brom departure in May, according to Birmingham Live journalist John Townley.
Unai Emery’s side have a history of recruiting Albion youngsters, with Jamaldeen Jimoh reportedly agreeing on a deal to sign for the Premier League side earlier this month.
Tim Iroegbunam also made the move from The Hawthorns to Villa Park in 2021, and it looks as if Richards could well be following him across West Midlands in another cruel blow for the West Brom faithful.
Townley, taking to his personal Twitter account [28 June] to report the news, tweeted: “Aston Villa are interested in signing Rico Richards after he left West Brom at the end of last season.
“The 19-year-old attacking midfielder made his league debut for West Brom in March and has represented England at youth level.”
Another damaging sight
Attacking midfielder Richards, who is just 19 at this stage, has already plied his trade at a senior level for Carlos Corberan’s side, coming on as a substitute against Hull City at the start of March.
He will have been particularly pleased to have made his debut in front of the home supporters at The Hawthorns and was highly regarded in the Black Country, but his departure at the end of last campaign will have been a bitter pill for the West Brom fans to swallow given his unique talents.
And that will have been made worse with news now emerging that he could be following Jimoh to Villa Park and the pull of playing at the top level will be very difficult to turn down.
The 19-year-old wonder still had plenty of time to improve and could have made a full first-team breakthrough next season if he had stayed put, especially with West Brom suffering from a depleted squad right now.
Corberan may well have been tempted to hand some of his fledgling young stars at youth level the chance to impress in the Championship next season, and Richards will have been a top candidate.
Now, it looks as if he is on to pastures new across town.
In other West Brom news, Carlos Corberan has revealed which players he would like to sign