Tottenham Join Liverpool in Pursuit of Manchester City Defender Micah Richards

Tottenham Hotspur have reportedly joined the race with Liverpool in signing Manchester City star Micah Richards during the ongoing transfer window.

The Reds were believed to be in pole position for the Citizens's academy product after Arsenal signed Mathieu Debuchy from Newcastle United, who replaced the French international with the Netherlands star Daryl Janmaat from the Eredivisie outfit Feyenoord.

The Daily Mirror claims that the north London club have begun monitoring the player's situation at the Etihad and will consider luring the Englishman to White Hart Lane. The right-back wants to leave the reigning English champions in search of regular playing time.

The versatile defender, whose contract is due to expire next summer, made just two Premier League appearances last campaign.

His chances of featuring in Manuel Pellegrini's starting line-up next season have virtually ended following the arrival of Bacary Sagna from Arsenal.

The report suggests that Mauricio Pochettino wants to offload Kyle Naughton and Vlad Chiriches before the season gets under way to create the necessary space in his roster for Richards.

The former Southampton boss wants to prove his credentials by guiding Spurs to finish among the top four in the league table in the upcoming campaign.

The 26-year-old was tipped to depart on a season-long loan and eventually leave City for free next summer as City reportedly demanded £7m.

The Citizens do not want to offload him temporarily as they will only receive a nominal loan fee similar to that of the £2m received from Everton for Gareth Barry, who rejoined Roberto Martinez's side for free, earlier this month.

A Manchester Evening News report states that the club's hierarchy wants to avoid a similar situation and are willing to sell the player if the interested parties cough up at least £5m excluding bonuses.

"I'll take the summer to think over things. I've been here 11 years, I've enjoyed every minute. I don't know what the future holds. I'm sure a lot of people hope I stay – but when games are limited sometimes you have to do what's best for your career," said Richards, hinting at an exit at the end of the season.

He has travelled to the US for City's pre-season matches and featured in the first half against Sporting Kansas City. They are due to play AC Milan, Liverpool and Olympiakos in the Guinness International Champions Cup before returning to England for the Community Shield fixture against Arsenal on 10 August.