BEVERLY HILLS, May 27, (THEWILL) – Bundesliga champions, Bayern Munich, made quick transfer business to get the services of Omar Richards, who played at left-back for Reading, on a free transfer. The club confirmed that the 23-year-old will join the Bayern squad with the completion of his transfer process.
Richards enjoyed an impressive campaign at Reading in the Championship this season even though the club tumbled out of the playoff competition. His sterling performances attracted the attention of other clubs which allowed him the option of rejecting a new contract at the Madejski Stadium.
The Bayern interest was most appealing to Richards and he struck a deal to join up with the Bavarian giants a few months ago, a move that was the fulfillment of a dream for the player.
Speaking about the confirmation to the club’s website, Richards said: “My move to FC Bayern is a great honour for me. A dream has come true.
“I’m proud to be wearing the shirt of one of the world’s biggest clubs. I hope I can help the team continue to be successful in the future. My thanks to the management at FC Bayern for their trust. Our conversations were very convincing. I can’t wait to be on the pitch for Bayern. Mia san mia!”
Richards signed a four-year contract that will keep him at the Allianz Arena until 2025, at least and will wear the number three shirt at the Allianz Arena.
For Bayern Director Hasan Salihamidzic, it was a mutual delight: “We’re delighted Omar is coming to FC Bayern. Omar is a technically gifted player on the left side of defence. He finds good solutions going forward, he’s very alert and we trust him to play a good role in our team.”
The 23-year-old will slot into Bayern’s defense structure as fair competition for first-choice left-back Alphonso Davies. This will free Lucas Hernandez to focus on his duties at centre-back next season instead of sharing time on the left with Davies for one reason or the other.
So far, it has been a good head start in the transfer market, which began from the very top of the chain when they struck the deal that brought in Julian Nagelsmann to replace manager Hansi Flick. They also have already confirmed an agreement to sign RB Leipzig centre-back Dayot Upamecano, a player that was in much demand especially from the English Premier League.
The Bavarians will be hoping to continue to build on the successes of the 2020/2021 season, even as Flick steps away to take on the national team. They won the Club World Cup, the Bundesliga, the Super Cup and the DfL Supercup to cap another successful season.
Unfortunately, there was no sextuple this time as the club fell by the way in trying to reach the DfB-Pokal and the very deficit of not having injured goal-machine, Robert Lewandowski, for their UCL quarter-final double-header fixtures against Paris Saint-Germain, led to their ouster.
Richards and Upamecano will toughen up the backline and give their opponents something to worry about when hostilities resume for next season.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
