Sky Sports pundit reacts as Rico Richards quits West Brom to join Aston Villa on free transfer
We’re delighted to welcome former West Brom striker Kevin Campbell as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at The Hawthorns…
Premier League status is what saw Aston Villa signing Rico Richards after he left West Brom at the end of June, believes Kevin Campbell.
The Birmingham outfit announced his signing on 3 July, a few days after the “highly-rated” midfielder officially left the Hawthorns after not signing a new deal.
Richards, 19, had been at West Brom since the age of 7 and climbed up the ranks at the club to even make his senior debut in March 2023.
He came off the bench in the 80th minute but unfortunately ended up on the losing side of a 2-0 scoreline against Hull City.
Discussing this exclusively with West Brom News, Campbell, a Sky Sports pundit said, “Well, Villa are a Premier League club. So, Villa, they’ve got the deep pockets to say, ‘You want to come? We’ll take you to a proper club.’ Unfortunately, the non top flight sides don’t have the financial muscle to pay these guys or to keep these guys.
“Once you’re in the Championship, you’re always at the behest of the Premier League clubs coming to pick up your car because this is just one of those things.
“Unless you’re gonna, unless you’re 100 per cent sure that you’re going to invest in a player, which a lot of these clubs won’t do because there’s no such thing as a nailed-on talent to invest that sort of money.
“So the Premier League club have got the deep pockets and they just come and nick the players.“
Richards was viewed by many as one of the future first-team players for the Baggies, but it wasn’t meant to be.
Last season, he was a regular for Richard Beale’s side in Premier League 2 where he played 19 matches and contributed to four goals and five assists for the Under-21s.
He even played in the Premier League 2 play-offs clash and was among the first names on the team sheet for the reserves.
He will now feature for the Villa Under-21s with a view of eventually making it to the first team at the Premier League side.
In other West Brom news, a Sky Sports pundit shares if an ‘Outstanding’ Premier League player who’s got England ambitions is set to seal a move to the Hawthorns this summer.