Birmingham, you’re going to get a “kick” from this news. Magic City native Chris Richards just accepted a $15 million contract from a major British soccer team. Keep reading to see how he scored this contract.

Chris Richards made it to the big league

This 22-year-old soccer player—excuse me, football player—is making Birmingham proud with his talent on the field. Chris Richards is so good that he was just signed by the British soccer team Crystal Palace, according to the AP News. He scored a contract of a whopping $15 million for five years to go to this Premier League team in South London.

“Chris Richards came to the FC Bayern Campus at the age of 18. He demonstrated his talent in his first year when he played for our reserves. That’s why we signed him from FC Dallas, and Chris went on to develop really well on loan at Hoffenheim. Now his big desire is to succeed in the Premier League. We wanted to make that possible and we wish him all the best at Crystal Palace.”
Hasan Salihamidzic, board member for sports, Bayer Munich

A career of many goals

Where else has this Birmingham superstar played? This center-back is going to Crystal Palace from the German team Bayern Munich. During his soccer career, Chris has also been part of:

US men’s soccer team
Three Champion’s League games
Two Europa League games
Five World Cup qualifiers
FC Dallas

It all started in Birmingham

The sports gene runs in the Hoover native’s family. His father played semi-professional basketball in Iceland, Bolivia and Australia, according to Bundesliga. Ultimately, basketball wasn’t the sport for Chris—soccer was his go-to. According to Bham Wiki, he played locally at the Hoover Soccer Club and Birmingham United Soccer Club. We’re proud of this Bham soccer player for starting locally and now making it to the big league.

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