Why has Chris Richards moved from Bayern Munich to Hoffenheim?

Stefan Bienkowski

• Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
• 2 min read

Hoffenheim have completed the loan signing of Bayern Munich central defender Chris Richards for the remainder of the season. 

Richards has made just seven appearances and just two starts for Hansi Flick’s side this season. 

As such, a loan deal to Bundesliga side Hoffenheim looks set to offer the 20-year-old talent more first team game time in the second half of the season. 

“I am happy to be able to take the next step in my development in Hoffenheim,” the defender confirmed on Bayern’s website. 

“It is important that I can now gain more match practice in the Bundesliga. I have big goals and I would like to recommend myself for other tasks at Bayern.”

Why Hoffenheim?

After joining the club initially on a trial period in July 2018, before then signing on a permanent deal in January 2019, Richards slowly but surely worked his way up the youth teams and pecking order at Bayern to the point that he was knocking on Flick’s door for first team football. 

Despite his promising talent, the United States international still had a formidable number of senior players ahead of him in the Bayern squad. Not only has Flick stuck with centre back pairing David Alaba and Jerome Boateng through thick and thin this season, but he also has Niklas Sule, Lucas Hernandez and Tanguy Nianzou in front of him. 

As such, Hoffenheim offers Richards a genuine opportunity to show what he can do at the Bundesliga level. And, as if that wasn’t enough of a reason to make the move, the young defender will also be working under his former youth coach Sebastian Hoeness, who is now the first team coach at Hoffenheim. 

Whether there will be more space for Richards in Flick’s side next season is another question entirely, but for now the young American can get to work on proving he’s up to the task of being a Bundesliga-grade defender.