Micah Richards is expected to announce his retirement at the end of the season due to a persistent knee injury.
The former England defender had been suggested as a possible solution to Celtic’s problem position at right-back but after over two years out of action he has decided to retire from the game.
According to the Daily Mail:
Richards has a persistent meniscus problem in his right knee – it can swell through exercise – and while he has been determined to return to action he is expected to reluctantly bring an end to his efforts once his Villa deal runs out in June.
On medical advice Dean Smith has continued Bruce’s policy of omitting Richards, who has not been named in a Villa squad for 16 months.
In October, Smith said: ‘Micah has not played for a long time so he’s not near fitness to be in contention at all at the moment. He’s been on a special programme, the training minutes he hasn’t had so far. We’ll see how his body adapts as we go.’
Richards was tipped to reach the very top in the game when he broke into the Manchester City side in the 2005/06 season and made the first of his 13 England caps the following season.
The Birmingham-born defender retained his place in the City side as the club was transformed by outside investment and played a key role in their dramatic EPL title win in 2011/12.
Injury problems started to surface with a loan move to Fiorentina followed by a switch to Aston Villa in 2015 but after 26 appearances he hasn’t played a match in two years.
Celtic have been linked with a couple of right-backs this month headed by Timothy Castagne of Atalanta but a price tag of around £6m and the players reluctance to move from Italy to Scotland has virtually killed that deal off.
Kolo Toure was a team-mate of Richards at City but a reunion at Celtic can now be ruled out.