Richards set to sign new City deal

LONDON, England -- England international defender Micah Richards is set to ignore the lure of a lucrative transfer to an elite Premier League club and sign a contract extension with Manchester City.

The 19-year-old, who is equally at home in central defense or at right back, has reportedly attracted the attention of Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United but says he will sign a new deal with City "very soon."

Richards, who is slated to start at right back for England in their crucial Euro 2008 qualifier against Israel on Saturday, believes that regular first team football at Eastlands has boosted his career.

"I am very happy at City," Richards told BBC Sport.

"To me the most important thing now for my England chances with Euro 2008 coming up is to be playing week in, week out.

"If I am at City then I am hopefully going to be doing that, so it will be the best thing for me."

Richards has seen team-mates such as Shaun Wright-Phillips, Sylvain Distin and Joey Barton all leave in recent times to pursue their ambitions.

However, since the departure of that illustrious trio, the takeover of former Thailand Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been completed and Sven-Goran Eriksson installed as manager.

Successive Premier League defeats at Arsenal and Blackburn have taken the gloss off Eriksson's dream start, but City remain healthily placed in the Premier League table and Richards is looking ahead to the future with relish.

"It is an exciting time at the club," he said. "We have a new owner and a big-name manager who has attracted big-name players and we are aiming for the top 10 at least." E-mail to a friend