Micah Richards believes that had Manchester City not received a large cash injection during his time at the club then he would have been made captain by now.
As it is, the 26-year-old was forced to leave the Etihad Stadium in search of first-team football, and currently finds himself in a similar position at Fiorentina where he has made just three Serie A starts all season.
Ahead of this evening's Europa League last-32 first-leg meeting with Tottenham Hotspur, Richards revealed in an interview with The Telegraph that he previously had the chance to join City's biggest Premier League rivals Manchester United and Chelsea.
"If we didn't get the investment we did, I'd probably be captain now," he said. "I probably wouldn't have left. I had a chance to go to Chelsea five years ago, and Manchester United. But I didn't feel it was right. I always enjoyed City. They gave me a chance at such a young age.
"I've been a bit unfortunate because whenever I picked up some form I got a niggling injury. With City, if you get an injury you can find yourself out of the team for months."
Asked about the competition he faced during the final months of his stay with the Citizens, Richards added: "I've got no hard feelings to [Pablo Zabaleta] because he didn't come as a big name. He's grafted his socks off, and done really well. There are no hard feelings towards [Manuel] Pellegrini. He seems like a really nice guy. It was tough for Pellegrini to give me a chance because of the form of 'Zaba'.
"The nail in the coffin was not getting the Premier League medal. I made only four appearances in the league. I can play centre-half as well, and wasn't even considered in that position. Javi Garcia, a central midfielder, was going in at centre-half. People were asking for tickets – and I was not even in the squad. I couldn't come to terms with it."
The 13-times capped England international also aired his grievances at national team coach Roy Hodgson, claiming that there is not a better right-back in the land despite regularly being overlooked for the Three Lions in recent years.
Daniel Lewis
