Micah Richards is convinced he made the right decision to join Fiorentina” data-scaytid=”1″>Fiorentina, despite admitting that he had more lucrative offers to stay in England.
The 26-year-old fell out of favour at Manchester City after struggling with a series of injuries over the past couple of seasons, and opted to revive his career by surprisingly moving to Tuscany on transfer-deadline day.
Micah Richards is convinced he made the right decision to join Fiorentina, despite admitting that he had more lucrative offers to stay in England.
The 26-year-old fell out of favour at Manchester City after struggling with a series of injuries over the past couple of seasons, and opted to revive his career by surprisingly moving to Tuscany on transfer-deadline day.
And just a fortnight into his loan spell, the defender is already in love with his new surroundings.
“Financially, [staying] would have been [the right thing to do]. It would have been the easy choice to stay in England,” Richards has told The Guardian.
“I don’t speak Italian and I don’t really have any mates in Florence. I just thought it was the right thing to move here.
“It’s a good League, a beautiful place, the lifestyle is unbelievable – just look at the views – and the people here are so friendly.”
Richards, who made his Fiorentina debut in the 3-0 Europa League win over Guingamp on Thursday, also underlined his intention to learn Italian, as he touched on a light-hearted first team-talk under Vincenzo Montella.
“There are tactics on the board. He’s telling us how he wants us to play. I’m just sitting there thinking [he puts on a blank face]: ‘I don’t know what you’re saying’,” he continued.
“There are seven of us English-speakers sitting there [another blank face]: ‘What’s he just said there, then?’ I joke and say: ‘Come on, he played at Fulham once, surely he can tell us in English’.
“So the other lads help out and it becomes: ‘You … player … shoot!’ And I’m going: ‘Yeah! Yeah! I’ve got you. Player! Shoot! I know shoot!’ So I suppose that could improve a bit.
“It’s so touristy here a lot of people speak English anyway, but I do want to interact properly. It’s too easy sticking to English and I always wanted to learn another language anyway.
“I just imagined before that it would be French or Spanish.”