Wenger had chance to land England star.
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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger had the chance to sign Manchester City defender Micah Richards this summer, but turned it down, according to talkSPORT.
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Wenger was on the hunt for defensive additions this summer following the sale of club captain Thomas Vermaelen to Barcelona in a £15m deal last month.
And the Frenchman was alerted to Richard’s availability after it became clear that the 26-year-old would find regular first team opportunities difficult to come by under Manuel Pellegrini again this season.
However, Wenger instead opted to sign Southampton teenager Calum Chambers in a £16million deal, with Richards eventually joining Italian side Fiorentina on loan for the season on deadline day.
Richards has since revealed that he was offered a significant pay increase to stay with the defending Premier League champions, but instead chose to move out on loan in order to resurrect his career, which had grown stale in Manchester.
The full-back/centre-back will now give himself the opportunity to play his way back into the England national side with regular Serie A and Europa League football, and he became the second high profile English defender to head to Italy this summer following Ashley Cole’s move to Roma.
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