Any sign of Micah Richards’ split allegiances wilted away in the aftermath of Arsenal’s Champions League win over Real Madrid. The former Manchester City defender was left ecstatic after the Gunners earned their place in the tournament’s final four.
The rambunctious pundit is no stranger to bursts of excitement but presented with goalscorer Bukayo Saka, Richards could not hide his enthusiasm. Saka opened the scoring at the Bernabeu having earlier missed a penalty, before Vinicius Jr netted for the hosts and Gabriel Martinelli capped off an impressive night with a 93rd-minute winner.
While often associated with Premier League champions City, Richards has on more than one occasion hinted towards his Arsenal fandom. After spending more than a decade at the Etihad Stadium it is clear his enthusiasm for the north London side has not been dampened.
Richards couldn’t contain himself when presented with Saka on Wednesday evening, and soon found himself called out by Arsenal legend Thierry Henry. The 36-year-old called upon Saka to lead the Gunners to Champions League glory and Henry quickly attempted to pin down his colleague.
“Saka!” exclaimed Richards with the England international present on a large television screen inside of CBS’s studio. “(It’s) Big Meeks, Uncle Meeks! You know I love you, I love you so much!
“What a player, what a guy. Come on, let’s bring it home now, eh?’
Saka could not contain his laughter after being presented with Richards’ praise. But Henry was quick in his attempt to quell Richards. Appearing confused, the World Cup winner queried: “Are you an Arsenal fan or not?”
“Sometimes,” Richards cagily offered.
In the past, Richards has avoided revealing his Arsenal allegiance in his professional capacity. Asked by Tony Bellew, on A League Of Their Own, which team he follows, Richards played it coy. He said: “Who do I support? Well, depends if I’m on air or off air.”
Bellew shot back: “Well, we are on air then tell us the truth.” Richards replied: “Man City”.
The television show’s host Romesh Ranganathan was not prepared to let the panelist off however. The comedian chipped in: “Off air: Arsenal!”
“Yes!” Richards confirmed.
While Saka received plenty of praise from Richards on Wednesday night, he had already heard from Henry ahead of the game.
The Gunners winger was not planning on getting much sleep after Arsenal’s success and was more than happy to speak to his hero once again.
Asked by Richards if he was planning to FaceTime Henry for a debrief about the game, Saka replied: “I spoke to him this morning already, but if he wants to speak again later I’m going to be up. I’m not going to sleep tonight, let’s be real.”
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle in an unbeatable new deal that saves £192 and includes 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.
At Reach and across our entities we and our partners use information collected through cookies and other identifiers from your device to improve experience on our site, analyse how it is used and to show personalised advertising. You can opt out of the sale or sharing of your data, at any time clicking the “Do Not Sell or Share my Data” button at the bottom of the webpage. Please note that your preferences are browser specific. Use of our website and any of our services represents your acceptance of the use of cookies and consent to the practices described in our Privacy Notice and Cookie Notice.
