MICAH RICHARDS' future at Manchester City has been plunged into doubt by his £75,000-a-week pay demand. The England defender has still not signed a new five-year contract which has been on the table for the last three months and would have doubled his current £25,000-a-week wages.Talks have stalled since Richards quit his management company SEM and handed his financial affairs over to his dad Lincoln. That is certain to alert Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal. All three are long-term admirers of the 20-year-old.
A source close to the contract negotiations said: "Micah was happy to sign the £50,000-a-week deal which was originally offered to him but since his dad became involved the goalposts have moved. "The demands have rocketed up to £75,000-a-week when all the bonuses are taken into account and that has put the talks on hold."
Richards Snr is taking the view that any one of the top Premier League clubs would be happy to pay his son the higher wages and is challenging City to meet his figures.
Reward The player is under contract until 2010, having signed a new deal 18 months ago. Since then he has emerged as a cornerstone of Sven Goran Eriksson's revitalised City team and become an England regular.
City were happy to reward him for his progress but have been stunned by a demand which would wreck their pay structure. Richards has always claimed the biggest influence on his life has been his Rastafarian dad.
The defender has claimed in the past that the club he has always wanted to play for is Arsenal, having supported them as a boy. Whether the Gunners would be willing to splash out a likely summer fee of around £30million for Richards is questionable, but Chelsea or United surely would. The Blues tried to sign him in the 2007 January transfer window.
