Micah Richards has revealed he turned down a move to Inter to join Aston Villa this summer.

The 27-year-old defender alerted Inter, who are managed by his former Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini, to his availability as he spent last season on loan at Fiorentina.

Inter first made their interest known in January and made another approach at the end of the season as Richards’s contract at Manchester City expired and he became a free agent.

But instead of opting to stay in Serie A, where he had struggled for games with Fiorentina, Richards decided to return to the English Premier League in the hope of reviving his career.

He said: “There were quite a few clubs in for me, some abroad, but having not played so much at Fiorentina, I thought it was right to come home.

“I was speaking to Inter as well with Roberto Mancini. They tried to get me in January but that didn’t materialise.

“I spoke to him afterwards but I wanted to come back to England. I didn’t want to be out in Italy and then the manager gets sacked and I’m fighting for my place in the same situation. That’s one of the main reasons I chose to come back.”

Another option Richards had was to stay at City, having been offered a new deal, but he felt it necessary to move on after three years of little action.

Richards was influential in City’s FA Cup and Premier League wins of 2011 and 2012 respectively but injuries and the form of Pablo Zabaleta restricted him to just nine league appearances in the subsequent two years.

He then went to Florence on a season-long loan but played just 10 games in Serie A.

He said: “I got offered a four- or five-year deal and the manager said to me, ‘I want you to stay’. I said, ‘I’m not playing enough’.

“When I was playing I was picking up hamstring injuries because I wasn’t playing enough.

“I’m not going to stay on the bench or at home on the weekends just for more money.”