3.Liga isn't a bad level, if there is an expectations for a few first team apperances sprinkled in Something like Sargent's season last year perhaps. Though it is harder for a CB to get sub appearances
Whoever put that together likes slide tackles. I prefer less drama from my defenders. Richards seems to keep drama to the minimum from what I’ve seen.
No disparagement of Pope, who was great, but he reminds me of someone he practices with, Jérôme Boateng. Maybe it's just me...
https://www.google.com/amp/s/syndic...performers-at-the-under-20-world-cup.amp.html Oh I can see that! Nice a bad comparison. If he has half the career of Boateng I’d be ecstatic. Now Bleacher Report shares their comparison....Antonio Rudiger. No real explanation why but having seen Rudiger it may be the closest comparison.
Hearing that Barcelona, Valencia and some other clubs are interested in USA U-20 star defender Chris Richards. Details here: https://t.co/bdJcMaQsDG— Roger Gonzalez (@RGonzalezCBS) June 18, 2019
No surprise. The kid is going to garner a ton of interest when he starts playing more and more. There's no doubt he has a bright future if the cards are played right. CR is in a great situation, as the article mentioned, at Bayern. With Hummels and Boateng having one-foot out the door, I could see CR inching closer and closer and closer to the 1st team. But man.... I love that rumored Barca interest. They are in a similar boat as bayern. Pique is getting long in the tooth and Umitti is inconsistent.
do prospects really move between the bayerns/barcas of the world? seems like if you are good enough to play for one youd be good enough for the other?
Seriously. Bayern don't need the money, so why would they sell him when they don't yet really know what they have? He's got a lot of upside - the more of that they develop, the greater the multiplier on their investment when they sell. If they really needed money, I could see it, but not Bayern. Only reason they sell now is if they see a problem that no one else does.
As I mentioned earlier: the fact that FCD holds a 40% sell-on for Richards, it will make it harder for another club to offer an amount that makes it worth Bayern's consideration.
There don't seem to be many recent parallels in terms of Bayern selling young players for large fees. One example might be Højbjerg, who they got for nothing, to Southampton for a nice chunk of change just a few years ago. Højbjerg was 20 at the time, though he'd made some first-team appearances for them already. With that said, I sort of doubt that they'd need an eight-figure offer to sell Richards.
Hummels was sold to Dortmund and Boateng may be on the way out. Sule, Hernandez, Pavard, Boateng, Martinez (Kovac sees him as only a DM). He might have a way to break through if he keeps progressing
I would think now would be the time to sell with Richards coming off a nice display at the U-20 WC. I cannot imagine playing all of next year with Bayern II would increase his transfer value but what do I know.
Lars Lukas Mai is another one I think who is slightly ahead of Richards, but they're comparable. I think Mai is the next CB in line to step up from the academy.
Is it possible Bayern rethinks their plans and sends him on loan somewhere? Given the level of interest and his u20 performances, I cant imagine Bayern 2 is all they have in store for him. If he gets to go to preseason with the first team and performs well, I bet he gets loaned out instead.