Micah must stay, says Mancini

[Mark (Blue Army)]

Roberto Mancini will resist any attempt by Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp to prise Micah Richards from the City of Manchester Stadium during the current transfer window.

City's close rivals for a top-four finish have been strongly linked with a move for 21-year-old Blues defender Richards, who has had to fight hard for a first-team place this season.

But new manager Mancini, who has been impressed by Richards in his hour of defensive need, insists that the player - who has 11 senior caps to his name - is a big part of his plans.

Waving aside the idea, City's boss said: "How could I afford to lose Micah? We have only four fit defenders at the moment! Anyway, I rate him very highly, he has played for England and has great potential for the future. It is important that he stays."

Richards, who came off after 55 minutes of last weekend's third-round FA Cup win at Middlesbrough, is expected to be fit for Monday night's home match against Blackburn Rovers.

Mancini, who was without nine of his stars at the Riverside and drafted in 19-year-old Dedryck Boyata, hopes to have Shaun Wright-Phillips and Roque Santa Cruz back in action for Rovers.

Both have returned to training, and though Wright-Phillips' ankle remains sore, he has a habit of making the cut on the day, while striker Santa Cruz is desperate to face his former club.

The Paraguay hit man, yet to make a start for his new manager, has overcome the calf injury that has ruled him out of three games since a two-goal performance in the 4-3 win over Sunderland.

Mancini said: "I think Shaun can recover. Both of them have a chance. It would be a big game for Rocky as Blackburn are his old club, but we will have to see if he is OK."

Santa Cruz is being linked with a bid from Espanyol, but Mancini said: "Roque is most important for us, and I do not want to lose him. He was injured for 15 days and we missed him. For me, he is important to the team."

Mancini, still without Wayne Bridge, Joleon Lescott and Nedum Onuoha, added: "We have problems at the back and in midfield, because Stephen (Ireland) is injured, but that is football and we have to get over the problems."

from mcfc.co.uk

[CityFanFromRome]

I agree that Micah should stay. I think he could go back to the form he was in under Sven, especially if we start playing him in CB again.

[mr_nool]

As CtK pointed out in his excellent thread about our defence: the lad's still a kid for fuck's sake. KEEP! He'll continue to develope (hopefully). He's already a good premiership defender. I think he has the capacity to be a great one as well.

[Mr Miyagi]

Just what is it with Redknapp? Does he have a fetish for City players ?

[paulh]

Agreed just a kid top player will learn from his dip in form hopefully will go on to great things with city and scores the odd goal to

[ruralblue]

I hope to sog he does stay, still a lot to learn and a lot of growing up to do. With the right management and a little grounding he could become a top top class player. He shows the signs. I think that the media hype he got when he broke into the England team at such a young age, went to his head a bit and if directed right he could prove to be one of our biggest assets.

[Beefymcfc]

If we swapped him for King and Woodgate, we could really disrupt their central defence...................or maybe not ;-)