Turin’s Samuele Richie has opened up about rumors of a transfer to Manchester City.
“Torino’s star Richie said he was honored to transfer to Manchester City and studied Rodri’s game to improve his skills,” the British ‘Goal Dotcom’ reported on the 13th (Korea Standard Time).
Manchester City has recently faced a huge bad news. Core midfielder Rodri suffered a knee injury while playing against Arsenal in the 5th round of the last PL. His condition is serious. There is a very high possibility that he will not be able to play again this season.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said, “He will come back next season because he underwent anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus surgery. This season is over. We got the worst news, but we can’t help it. Unfortunately, sometimes this happens.”
Manchester City is looking for a replacement for Rodri. One of the players being discussed is Richie, who plays for Turin. He grew up in Empoli. It was from the 2019-20 season that he made his professional appearance. At that time, he established his position by playing in 30 games while his team was relegated.
The following year, his performance was even better. Richie led Empoli to promotion by scoring two goals and four assists in 36 matches. After the end of the season, he was named the Italian Serie B Player of the Year. He also showed good performance in Serie A. During the 2021-22 season, he made one goal and one assist in 24 matches.
Thanks to his performance, he also joined the Italian national soccer team. Rich made his a – match debut against Germany in June 2022. He has played in four a – match matches so far. Ahead of the 2022-23 season, several teams were interested in Rich.
His destination was Turin. He displayed impressive performance in 32 matches, two goals and one assist in the first season. He finished the season with 33 matches, one goal and four assists. He is also playing as a main midfielder this season, with seven matches and one assist.
According to the Guardian, Manchester City picked Richie as a substitute for Rodri. “Richie can play in various midfield positions and is emerging as one of the young deep-lining playmakers,” the media said.
The media outlet stated, “Richie will be viewed as a prudent and long-term recruitment. Given that the transfer fee could rise to £30 million (W52.6 billion), it will not be a mere stopgap measure. Manchester City have to decide whether to move forward with their summer transfer window plans.”
On the rumor of his transfer to Manchester City, Richie said, “I’m very happy, but now I understand a little more about soccer. To be connected to such a big club means that I am on the right track. I am satisfied with this.”
“I trained a lot to turn my head around and see what was behind me. Because it can make a difference. Sometimes you have to watch it more than once. That’s how coach 꽁머니 taught me,” he said.
Richie watches videos of Rodri and does his research. He added, “Coach sends me videos to study, and most of them are Rodri’s videos. You can see the importance of trivial things. I still have to improve a lot of things, such as positioning.”