Chris Richards: Crystal Palace sign Bayern Munich's US international
- Published
Since signing permanently for Bayern Munich in 2019, Richards (left) has spent two loan spells with Hoffenheim
Crystal Palace have completed the signing of Bayern Munich defender Chris Richards for an initial £8.5m, plus £2.5m in add-ons, on a five-year deal.
The 22-year-old United States international spent last season on loan at Bundesliga side Hoffenheim.
He has been pushed further down the pecking order at Bayern by the arrival of Matthijs de Ligt from Juventus.
"It'll be cool to be part of this historic club - I'm really excited for it," Richards said.
"I grew up watching the Premier League and of course watching [Wilfried] Zaha, so it'll be cool to spend some time on the field with them.
"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," he added.
Richards joined Bayern Munich on loan from FC Dallas in 2018 before the deal was made permanent in January 2019.
The defender, who can play in several positions, has made five first-team appearances for Bayern, 30 for Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga, and eight for the USA national team.
He is Eagles boss Patrick Vieira's fourth signing of the summer after Sam Johnstone, Malcolm Ebiowei and Cheick Doucoure.
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