(Reuters) – Crystal Palace have signed American international defender Chris Richards from Bayern Munich on a five-year contract, both clubs said on Wednesday.
Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. BBC reported Palace will pay an initial 8.5 million pounds ($10.33 million) for the 22-year-old centre back, with the fee rising to 11 million pounds with add-ons.
“I’m really excited for it,” Richards told Palace’s website. The kind of project I’ve seen (attracted me). It’s a lot of young players but also young players who have a lot of fight. Palace is a club that seems like they’re always fighting.”
Richards arrived at Bayern in 2018 from Major League Soccer team FC Dallas, initially signing on loan before making the transfer permanent in January.
The versatile defender made 10 appearances for the Bavarian club after his senior debut in 2020. He spent the second half of the 2020-21 campaign and the entirety of last season on loan at Hoffenheim, where he played 34 times in all competitions.
Richards has also become a regular in Gregg Berhalter’s United States squads and has eight caps since his debut in 2020.
He becomes Palace’s fourth signing of the transfer window, after midfielder Cheick Doucoure, striker Malcolm Ebiowei and goalkeeper Sam Johnstone.
($1 = 0.8226 pounds)
(Reporting by Hritika Sharma in Hyderabad; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
