Micah Richards reveals why he rejected £100,000-a-week contract from Man City

Micah Richards has revealed that one of his biggest career regrets and one of the ‘worst decisions’ he’s ever made is turning down a £100,000 per week contract from Manchester City.

Richards, 34 played for Man City from 2005 until the club released him in the summer of 2015. During his time at the club, he made 245 appearances across all competitions. This including 5 UEFA Champions League appearances, 11 Europa League games and 22 FA Cup matches. In 2013, he was proclaimed “a true survivor” and asset to the club by the Manchester Evening News before ultimately transferring to Aston Villa in 2015. He retirred from football professionally in 2019. However since then, he’s become a regular pundit on Mach of the Day, frequently appearing alongside Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer.

On a recent episode of BBC’s Match of the Day Top 10, Richards revealed one of the ‘worst decisions’ he’s made in regards to his footballing career — turning down a contract worth £100,000 per week to stay at Man City, as you can see below.

During the chat, Richards admitted to Lineker, 62, and Shearer, 52, that at 17 he was earning £5,000 a week, but when he was offered an insane deal later on in his career, he actually turned it down and regrets it to this day.

“Stuart Pearce was the manager at the time,” Richards said. “I was on five grand a week. He did try to do me one of these times… He offered me double the money, so 10 grand a week…But I was just getting into England,” says Richards.

Lineker replied with the remark, “Ah you’d bursted,” before Richards ploughed ahead and said, “Exactly. So I ended up on 50 grand a week.

"He tried to do me out of 40 grand a week! The story goes on. You had to have so much English players [at Manchester City] for the quota.’

Richards definitely ended up regretting his decision. Image: PA Images

“So Man City offered me 100 grand a week, a five-and-a-half-year deal and I said no,” he continued. “I said no because I was number two behind [Pablo] Zabaleta.

"So I’m not all about the money."

Lineker then questioned Richards decision making and queried whether he had ever recovered from turning down the lucrative deal.

"To which Richard cheekily replied, “Why do you think I work for every f***ing broadcaster?” Before the pundits erupted in laughter.

Richards then exclaims that turning down the Man City deal was, “the worst decision I’ve ever f***ing made!” “To top it off… I went to Aston Villa and that was less money. But then we got relegated in the first season, so my wages halved. So I’ve gone from a 100 grand-a-week offer to 25 grand-a-week in the Championship.”

At least Richards sees the funny side. Image: Match of the Day

Lineker replied and told Richards that his football wages were definitely still making a living. However, Richards pounced back with a concluding statement, announcing that although the pay was good, it didn’t quite fund his accustomed lifestyle, “Well, not a living for Big Meeks, you know what I mean?”

You can listen weekly to episodes of Match of the Day Top 10 via BBC Sounds. They are also available to stream via BBC iPlayer.