Rumour - Richards to Everton

[Stranded]

According to the Mail, Everton hope to sign Richards in January.

If we get a decent fee, happy to sell as if clubs of that level are interested he will head off in the summer for free anyway.

[Hound]

According to the Mail, Everton hope to sign Richards in January.

If we get a decent fee, happy to sell as if clubs of that level are interested he will head off in the summer for free anyway.

yeah, looking less likely he'll sign the new contract. Sadly I think its inevitable he'll leave so we may as well get a fee in

[Stranded]

According to the Mail, Everton hope to sign Richards in January.

If we get a decent fee, happy to sell as if clubs of that level are interested he will head off in the summer for free anyway.

yeah, looking less likely he'll sign the new contract. Sadly I think its inevitable he'll leave so we may as well get a fee in

No problem with Academy players moving on to better things, is exactly what we should be doing. See players break in to the team, sell for a good fee and reinvest that in improving the first team more. Perfect model for a club at our current level.

[Hound]

According to the Mail, Everton hope to sign Richards in January.

If we get a decent fee, happy to sell as if clubs of that level are interested he will head off in the summer for free anyway.

yeah, looking less likely he'll sign the new contract. Sadly I think its inevitable he'll leave so we may as well get a fee in

No problem with Academy players moving on to better things, is exactly what we should be doing. See players break in to the team, sell for a good fee and reinvest that in improving the first team more. Perfect model for a club at our current level.

yep agreed. Shame we probably won't get his full value due to the contract situation though.

Also why I'm moving towards thinking it would be sensible to cash in on Olise if the option is there. Sale of these two could fund us for years (and also a brilliant advert for our academy)

[NewCorkSeth]

This is a good move on paper for him. Chance to play for Ancelotti at a premier league club that is kinda always just there.

Digne is one of the best LBs in the league so can't imagine game time would be hugely available. Would be nice if they loaned him back till the end of the season.

[Jagermesiter1871]

For me I honestly will be more gutted to see Richards go than I will if Olise leaves. I think Richards is the real deal and genuinely could be a starter for United/City/Chelsea. We also have absolutely zero cover for him as opposed to Olise->Swift

[Hound]

For me I honestly will be more gutted to see Richards go than I will if Olise leaves. I think Richards is the real deal and genuinely could be a starter for United/City/Chelsea. We also have absolutely zero cover for him as opposed to Olise->Swift

yeah will be very disappointed to see him go, he has been excellent this year. Just can't see him signing another deal or else he'd have done so already

[Zip]

This is not good news but if he doesn’t want to sign a new contract we have to let him go to at least recoup some money. He has been outstanding this season and will be a big loss if he does go. He is so much more physically stronger than he used to be and much more streetwise defensively. He rarely gets beaten now.
He has great feet and can somehow pass the ball to a team mate under seemingly huge pressure.

If he does leave I want to see this guy fly. He has the talent to go to the top.

[WestYorksRoyal]

This is a good move on paper for him. Chance to play for Ancelotti at a premier league club that is kinda always just there.

Digne is one of the best LBs in the league so can't imagine game time would be hugely available. Would be nice if they loaned him back till the end of the season.

Digne has been injury prone though. Acting as cover/rotation for him is a good move for Richards; could be playing Champions League football in 12 months if true.

Agree with sentiments that seeing academy players go onto bigger things is great. Main thing is getting a decent fee and reinvesting well.

We seem to have ballsed up plenty of academy contracts in recent years (Richards, McIntyre, Southwood, Loader, even Olise only has 18 months left). Clearly we need to do better at this, as we'd probably be looking at double the fee if Richards was tied down until 2022 or 2023.

[South Coast Royal]

This is not good news but if he doesn’t want to sign a new contract we have to let him go to at least recoup some money. He has been outstanding this season and will be a big loss if he does go. He is so much more physically stronger than he used to be and much more streetwise defensively. He rarely gets beaten now.
He has great feet and can somehow pass the ball to a team mate under seemingly huge pressure.

If he does leave I want to see this guy fly. He has the talent to go to the top.

Still not the finished article when it comes to defending and positional play but vastly improved this season.
His touch , control and passing are brilliant and of Premier League quality.

Would love him to stay but money talks and let us hope it is loads of money.

[Notts Royal]

Would be a big loss. Should’ve tied him down to a bigger contract in the summer as it was clear he was progressing better than Blackett & Obita at the time. Why do we never learn?

[Stranded]

Would be a big loss. Should’ve tied him down to a bigger contract in the summer as it was clear he was progressing better than Blackett & Obita at the time. Why do we never learn?

Takes 2 to want to talk contracts and sign them. For all we know Richards may well have been very happy to delay talks knowing that he would get a run this year and if he went well could command a higher wage or be more attractive to other clubs.

[Hound]

yep and he wasn't esp good last year tbf. Always had potential but wasn't really fulfilling it

[Sutekh]

Would be a big loss. Should’ve tied him down to a bigger contract in the summer as it was clear he was progressing better than Blackett & Obita at the time. Why do we never learn?

Takes 2 to want to talk contracts and sign them. For all we know Richards may well have been very happy to delay talks knowing that he would get a run this year and if he went well could command a higher wage or be more attractive to other clubs.

Takes money as well and with FFP guidance being somewhat lacking at the time presume things couldn’t be picked up as easily as hoped.

If Everton want him then it depends on the fee as to whether the club sells. Can’t see more than £2m tops being offered (if lucky and “with a wind behind”). The club could turn it down of course but then Omar would be off in the summer for only the standard tribunal “development” fee - unless Reading somehow managed to get itself promoted.

Then there’s getting a decent replacement in, presume the club have a list of “wants” in the left back area but would any of those clubs be ready to sell? Best of course would be Everton willing to loan Omar straight back.

[Notts Royal]

yep and he wasn't esp good last year tbf. Always had potential but wasn't really fulfilling it

Personally I thought he improved considerably on the previous season and it was clear he was better than Obita. Blackett had a few stand out games though

[WestYorksRoyal]

People talking about £2m as a figure given the contract. Does that not seem low?

We're 5th and could conceivably get promoted. For £2m, I'm tempted to forget about it and risk letting him go on a free in order to maximise promotion chances. Offer £5m - £6m and I'm more tempted to bank it and move on.

[URZZZZ]

This is not good news but if he doesn’t want to sign a new contract we have to let him go to at least recoup some money. He has been outstanding this season and will be a big loss if he does go. He is so much more physically stronger than he used to be and much more streetwise defensively. He rarely gets beaten now.
He has great feet and can somehow pass the ball to a team mate under seemingly huge pressure.

If he does leave I want to see this guy fly. He has the talent to go to the top.

Still not the finished article when it comes to defending and positional play but vastly improved this season.
His touch , control and passing are brilliant and of Premier League quality.

Would love him to stay but money talks and let us hope it is loads of money.

Agreed, he seems very good at getting out of tight situations. He always had the raw talent, he had plenty of good games last season, however it was very much 2 good games before 1 disaster game last year and that consistency was the main thing that needed to be ironed out

What I think he can work on is his crossing and going on the outside of his man as he still comes inside too often IMO

[Stranded]

People talking about £2m as a figure given the contract. Does that not seem low?

We're 5th and could conceivably get promoted. For £2m, I'm tempted to forget about it and risk letting him go on a free in order to maximise promotion chances. Offer £5m - £6m and I'm more tempted to bank it and move on.

Depends if the club feel they can get an adequate replacement in for less than that - a 2m fee now could see us raid lower divisions for some decent quality. Sure there must be a quality LB or 2 around that we could get cheap and maybe add say a Piggott as another striking option.

[tidus_mi2]

People talking about £2m as a figure given the contract. Does that not seem low?

We're 5th and could conceivably get promoted. For £2m, I'm tempted to forget about it and risk letting him go on a free in order to maximise promotion chances. Offer £5m - £6m and I'm more tempted to bank it and move on.

Not to nitpick but we dropped to 8th after losing to Brentford.

[Elm Park Kid]

I'll be very, very happy to be proven wrong - but I don't see him as good enough to play at that standard. But, if Everton can get him at £2m, then why not - he only has to come good like 10% of the time for that to be a reasonable gamble. And, am I right that having a young, English player in the squad helps them with post-Brexit quotas?

I guess a sensible deal from all sides would see him sold with an immediate loan-back deal for the rest of the season.