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French-Moroccan footballer (born 2002) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Michael Amir Junior Richardson (Arabic: مايكل أمير جونيور ريتشاردسون; born 24 January 2002) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Serie A club Fiorentina and the Morocco national team.[1]
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Richardson with Morocco in 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Michael Amir Richardson | |||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 24 January 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Nice, France | |||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | |||||||||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Fiorentina | |||||||||||||||||||
| Number | 24 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008–2012 | AS Fontonne Antibes | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2012–2019 | Nice | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2019–2021 | Le Havre | |||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2021–2023 | Le Havre | 68 | (3) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2023–2024 | Reims | 28 | (3) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2024– | Fiorentina | 6 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2021 | France U20 | 6 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2023– | Morocco U23 | 14 | (2) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2023– | Morocco | 8 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:25, 31 October 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20:01, 8 August 2024 (UTC) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Richardson came through the ranks of OGC Nice youth system, before joining Le Havre AC.[2]
He made his professional debut for on 15 May 2021, starting the Ligue 2 game against the league champions ESTAC Troyes.[3] On 9 July 2021, he signed his first professional contract with Le Havre.[4] He was named Ligue 2's Pépite du mois ("Nugget of the Month") for December 2021[5] and was considered by many sources to have been one of the revelations of the 2021–22 season.[6][7][8][9]
On 1 September 2022, he transferred to Reims signing a contract until 2026. He returned to Le Havre on loan for the 2022–23 season[10] where he was part of the team that won the Ligue 2 championship[11] and named in the UNFP Team of the Year.[12]
Richardson made his Ligue 1 debut for Reims in a 2–1 loss to Olympique Marseille at the Stade Vélodrome on 12 August 2023.[13] He scored his first goal in Ligue 1 in a 2–1 loss to Stade Brestois on 17 September 2023.[14]
On 12 August 2024, Richardson joined Serie A club Fiorentina.[15]
Richardson is the son of the American former basketball player Micheal Ray Richardson and a Moroccan mother, Ilham Ngadi, born in Fez, Morocco.[16][17] He played for the France U20s in 2021. He was called up to the Morocco U23s in March 2023. Born in France, Richardson is eligible to represent either France, Morocco or the United States at international level.[18]
In June 2023, he was included in the final squad of the Moroccan under-23 national team for the 2023 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations, hosted on home soil,[19][20] where the Atlas Lions won their first title[21][22] and qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics.[21][23]
In May 2023, Richardson was approached by the United States Soccer Federation, to see if the player would be willing to change his allegiance to the United States national team. He ultimately turned them down.[24]
In September 2023, Richardson made his senior debut for the Morocco national team, in a 1–0 winning effort against Burkina Faso.[25] Richardson was included in the official Morocco 2023 Africa Cup of Nations squad.[26]
He is the son of former NBA player Michael Ray Richardson, who had moved to France to continue his basketball career.
| Club | Season | League | National cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Le Havre | 2020–21 | Ligue 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2021–22 | Ligue 2 | 33 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 34 | 0 | |||
| 2022–23 | Ligue 2 | 34 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 34 | 3 | |||
| Total | 68 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 69 | 3 | ||||
| Reims | 2023–24 | Ligue 1 | 28 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 28 | 3 | ||
| Fiorentina | 2024–25 | Serie A | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | — | 9 | 0 | |
| Career total | 102 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 106 | 6 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morocco | 2023 | 3 | 0 |
| 2024 | 5 | 0 | |
| Total | 8 | 0 | |
Le Havre
Morocco U23
Individual
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