Aston Villa are in a position to not look back since the arrival of Unai Emery, with the Spaniard’s influence making struggles of the past an irrelevant memory due to his quick success so far at Villa Park.
The former Arsenal boss took charge of the Villans in October 2022, taking Steven Gerrard’s 16th-place squad to the highs of a seventh-place finish in the Premier League and earning a spot in the Europa Conference League.
As well as improving morale and performance within the squad, the four-time Europa League winner added his own touch to the side he inherited from Gerrard, welcoming five new faces to Villa Park in the summer transfer window.
While things have mostly gotten off to a good start so far in the 2023/24 campaign for the new arrivals, this hasn’t always been the case for new arrivals over the years at Villa, with some acquisitions failing miserably to live up to expectation.
The Tim Sherwood era was a tough one to comprehend as the Villans ultimately suffered relegation to the Championship, not helped by some terrible business in the transfer market along the way during his reign.
Not many pieces of business were as poor as the capture of Rudy Gestede to replace Christian Benteke, however one name acquired by Sherwood absolutely rinsed Villa for four years.
When did Aston Villa sign Micah Richards?
In the summer of 2015, Aston Villa announced the signing of Manchester City defender Micah Richards on a free transfer.
The Englishman had worked his way through City’s academy to become a valued member of the squad, however after failing to secure consistent game time under Manuel Pellegrini, he opted to move to Villa at the expiration of his contract at the Etihad.
Richards had spent the season prior on loan at Italian outfit Fiorentina in the bid to play more football, yet due to injury and rotation, only managed to secure ten Serie A appearances, making a move to Villa even more attractive.
Signing for Sherwood’s side handed Richards a clean slate after a stagnant period of limited minutes, offering him the chance to rediscover his form and kickstart his career at 26.
Why did they sign him?
While Richards’ career had taken a slight decline prior to his move to Villa, his quality was undeniable, highlighted by his key role in City’s 2011/12 title-winning side.
The England international had a host of experience to offer the Villans, who had been struggling for form, as well as his expertise posing to be the ideal replacement for prized centre-back Ron Vlaar, who left the club that summer.
Putting his injury woes aside, there was a top-class player there to be potentially uncovered in the Midlands, highlighted by his average of 1.8 tackles and 3.1 clearances per game during the 2011/12 campaign, where he earned an average match rating of 7.03, via WhoScored.
At the point of his arrival, Sherwood gushed over his new acquisition, telling the media that he was sure Richards would “prove to be an excellent signing”, which in hindsight, couldn’t have been further from the truth.
How much did Micah Richards earn at Aston Villa?
The Englishman arrived at Villa Park somewhat jaded from the past few years of his career, yet was still handed a generous £50k-per-week contract, making him the club’s second-highest earner at the time without kicking the ball.
His lucrative weekly wage amounted to a salary of £2.6m-per-year, which was a narrow step down from his £3.1m-per-year earnings at City, who were in a far greater financial position than the Villans at the time.
Not only was the England international rewarded financially, but in terms of his role at his new club too, being handed the captaincy by Sherwood ahead of his first campaign at Villa Park.
His wage and his skipper status spoke volumes on how highly Richards was initially regarded at Villa, however his pedestal treatment was short-lived, as reality soon kicked in.
Did he deserve to earn so much?
In his first season, Richards managed just 24 Premier League appearances, far fewer than what would be hoped of from the captain of the club.
It didn’t take long for the 26-year-old to be criticised for his performances, as Villa struggled profusely to gain momentum throughout the 2015/16 campaign as the defence led by Richards was the weakest in the Premier League.
Pundit and former Arsenal legend Ian Wright blasted the centre-back’s performances during his first season, calling him “slack” on Match of the Day and being part of the reason why he thought Villa would be relegated.
Wright was right, as the Villans were relegated at the close of the season, finishing bottom of the pile having conceded the highest number of goals with 76 conceded in the 38 fixtures played that term.
What was worse for Villa, and Richards, was that the defender’s luck didn’t get any better during his time in the Midlands, as his record of 24 appearances in his debut campaign proved to be the most Villa were ever going to get out of the Englishman.
From October 2016 to January 2017, the defender was absent due to a knee injury that saw him sidelined for almost 100 days, seeing him slip down the pecking order and become a light year away from being classed as match fit.
After his debut season, Richards went on to make just three more appearances in claret and blue, which is more alarming when you consider that record was over the span of three years.
Micah Richards' Aston Villa career
Season
Appearances
2015/16
28
2016/17
3
2017/18
0
2018/19
0
Via Transfermarkt
It wasn’t a shock that the once-promising defender, whose career was plagued by injury, retired at the expiration of his contract at Villa Park, however his decision to remain stagnant infuriated fans of the club as he continued to earn his £50k-per-week wage for no contribution.
During his four years at Villa, Richards had no impact on the side, reinforced by the fact he only contributed to seven clean sheets during that time, which works out that the Villans paid him over £1.4m per clean sheet.
In 31 appearances over four years, the centre-back picked up a sum of £10.4m in wages alone, telling the tale of the extent to which the Englishman truly rinsed Villa after arriving with hopes to help the club and kickstart his career.