It’s too soon to call 2020-21 a make or break year for Chris Richards at Bayern Munich. But it’s undoubtedly a crucial year.
Sanjay Sujanthakumar
Editor’s Note: This is part two of a six part series exploring and diving into the talent of an exciting generation of young Americans abroad. Each piece will focus on what to expect from the player in the upcoming 2020-2021 season.
The young core of the USMNT this cycle – and hopefully the foreseeable future – has fallen into place proving themselves in Europe year after year over the last four. It began with Pulisic breaking through for BVB in 2016. McKennie established himself at Schalke in 2017-18. Tyler Adams proved he belonged in the Bundesliga as soon as he joined RB Leipzig in January 2019. Then came Gio Reyna last season.
While we will break down Josh Sargent later in this series, the young forward’s ascent, for multiple reasons, has not been as swift. In addition to Sargent staking his claim as the first choice 9, the potential of Tim Weah on the wing and an attacking mid or two bursting onto the scene, the next 12-18 months could be defined by the European top flight emergence of the best center back prospect in the program (ever? with due respect to Eddie Pope): Chris Richards.
After making his first team debut on the penultimate Bundesliga matchday in June, Richards is currently continuing to train with Bayern Munich’s first team.
The situation at center back for the European champions is not yet set but at the moment it seems like Javi Martinez could be gone, and Jerome Boateng – who is recovering from a torn hamstring – is staying. David Alaba’s future is still up in the air and apparently he’s pushing to be a midfielder. Niklas Süle appeared in all four of Bayern’s August Champions League matches and is very much back after an ACL tear last October. Tanguy Nianzou Kouassi, the versatile 18-year old center back who was just signed from PSG – he made 13 first team appearances there – will be out six weeks. The Bavarian giants still have defender Lucas Hernandez on their books, and it’s worth remembering he came for a club record fee last summer. But Hernandez missed 19 games due to injury a year ago. As it stands, unless someone like Hernandez or Benjamin Pavard deputizes at center back ahead of Richards, he could be the third choice center back. That is still a tricky spot for a young player. Just ask Cameron Carter-Vickers, who Mauricio Pochettino once said “will be one of the best center-backs in England.” CCV was on the bench waiting for his chance in 2016, then couldn’t break through in the 2017 preseason and embarked on his loan odyssey. Where is CCV now? A move to Bournemouth seems imminent, but it’s taken years to get there.
Richards is definitely a better prospect than CCV was.
Nevertheless, such is life at a club of Bayern’s stature, where there’s a perpetually revolving door of competition almost always cutting off the path from the youth or reserve squads to the first team, and the sliver of opportunity needed to shine can depend on various factors. Richards has graduated from Bayern II – he told The Athletic in July “I want to be more than a third division player, I want to be a pro here at Bayern” yet sounded open to a loan – and it’s now a matter of the risk vs reward of remaining in Munich. There hasn’t been a shortage of suitors in Europe ever since his standout U20 World Cup last summer, a testament to the Birmingham native’s tremendous athleticism, reading of the game and calm, clean distribution. Barcelona and Valencia were reportedly interested,and Valencia recently resurfaced in rumors along with Arsenal and Chelsea. That there’s still significant, diverse interest in Richards was reiterated just yesterday.
The dense, COVID-era calendar will force both planned and injury-induced squad rotation, and if No.1 left center back Alaba leaves or his position changes, Richards could get his shot. If Bayern’s center back group doesn’t change as we approach the October 5th transfer deadline day, Richards is probably better off, at least in the near term, leaving Bayern Munich. Or perhaps Bayern will wait until the winter window to consider a loan when they’re assured about their depth in light of the injuries.
Although the club’s reluctance to sell Richards or loan him abroad could be a blessing in the long-term, if they were to loan him now to another German club – like they did with another 20 year-old center back prospect, Lars Lukas Mai, who was sent to SV Darmstadt in the 2. Bundesliga – it’s more likely he’d be integrated into the national team by next summer.
Asked about Richards in an interview with Sport Bild last week, Berhalter said, “Of course I’m keeping an eye on him; Chris is one of our central defenders of the future.” The future is happening now, and the question is how many U-23s will be in and around the varsity XI before The Octagon.
Last year Berhalter described Sargent as the “the striker for the national team in the future” and also discussed Gio Reyna in more futuristic terms. Richards revealed on the KeepingItSimple Podcast that he recently spoke with Berhalter and was told to “be ready when your time comes” in what could be an extraordinarily busy year for the program. There’s no doubt in my mind Richards belongs in a full strength USMNT squad today. But if he’s not getting steady minutes this year it’s tough to see him being inserted into the best XI that we could see at the Gold Cup, which is an important tournament suddenly in that it gives the MNT extra time to gel now that several international windows have been lost and World Cup qualifying has been postponed again.
The World Cup is two years away and even if Richards is not a senior team starter in the next year, he could still sneak into the lineup before Qatar. But if in Europe he earns Berhalter’s trust and becomes the right center back (or the left center back if/when John Brooks is out) in the next nine months before a crucial 2021-22 season, that is a pivotal piece in the post-Couva rebuild.
Sanjay Sujanthakumar is a longtime TYAC contributor. He also coaches soccer at the University of Southern California. Follow him on Twitter @Tha_Real_Kumar.