Micah Richards has claimed that Sunderland and West Ham were amongst his suitors after he was relegated from the Premier League with Aston Villa, but the Midlands club refused to sell him.
Richards left Manchester City to join Aston Villa in 2015, but could do little as the Villans crashed out of the Premier League at the end of his first season.
The defender admits that his knee troubles exacerbated during his time at Aston Villa, while his form saw a major downturn and he could only watch in horror as the club ended up in the Championship.
However, he insisted that Premier League clubs were still keen on him and revealed that West Ham and Sunderland wanted to sign him in that summer.
But Aston Villa refused to sell the defender as the club felt that he was too much of a presence in the dressing room to lose as they prepared for life in the Championship.
“I knew my knee was getting worse at Villa”, Richards told The Athletic.
“The first season was dreadful and we went down. But speak to the Villa fans — take away the last three years — they were saying at the start that I should be playing for England. But the form dipped.
“When we were relegated, I had a chance to get out.
“Sunderland, West Ham and Orlando City wanted me, but Villa wouldn’t sell me, saying I was too vital in the dressing room.”
Richards continued to struggle with injuries and made just three appearances in Aston Villa’s first season in the second tier and did not play a minute of football in the next campaign before retiring from the game.
