He's not played a minute of football for Cardiff City since October
What's happened to Jazz Richards, the Cardiff City and Wales star who has become a forgotten man
Jazz Richards contract expires this coming June at Cardiff City.
By Dominic Booth
Monday 11th March 2019
Let's cut straight to the chase and ask a question that has gone unanswered for five months: where on earth is Jazz Richards?
Plenty has happened at Cardiff City since Richards, their only Welsh senior player, was last seen on the pitch — during the 4-2 win over Fulham on October 22 last year.
The Bluebirds have won seven more Premier League games, they have suffered the agony of the Emiliano Sala tragedy , their form has hit peaks and troughs and Neil Warnock has shaken off questions about his role as manager.
None of it all, however, has involved Richards. He has become a forgotten figure at the club.
He's not started a league match this season, featuring in just 97 minutes of Premier League football.
Yet most would agree his talent is belying his game-time.
Let's rewind to July 2016 when the Wales international arrived at Cardiff City Stadium from Fulham in a straight swap with Scott Malone. There was genuine excitement among Bluebirds fans, despite Richards' past association with rivals Swansea City , that a star of Wales' sensational Euro 2016 campaign was signing for the club.
Then 25, Richards was the perfect age to kick on and the right profile of player for Paul Trollope's Wales-inspired Cardiff blueprint.
"He’s obviously a player I know well from the Welsh set-up, and introducing another Welsh element was another big factor as well," said Trollope.
Okay, the Trollope regime failed spectacularly, but Cardiff still had themselves a very able and versatile full-back, who had called the transfer "a big opportunity for me to come and play games".
He added: "I was here as a youngster and enjoyed every minute of it, so I’m glad to be back."
That Welsh factor was seen as a big boost, with Cardiff having lost their homegrown core since the departure of youth products like Aaron Ramsey, Joe Ledley and Chris Gunter.
Warnock replaced Trollope in October 2016 but by no means did the Yorkshireman's appointment spell the end for Richards.
Warnock likes his full-backs to be defensively solid, but Joe Bennett's progress in the past two-and-a-half years could and should have been mirrored by Richards.
It hasn't happened. Since getting a run of 18 matches at right-back under Warnock towards the end of the 2016/17 campaign — when Lee Peltier was injured — Richards has started just 11 times in all competitions for Cardiff, due to a loss of both fitness and form.
Ankle surgery in September 2017 and near constant hamstring niggles this season have certainly set him back.
Game-time for Cardiff's Under-23s has come in fits and starts, with the 27-year-old (who turns 28 next month) playing for the youth side against Ipswich and Bristol City in January this year, seeking a route back to full fitness and a first-team spot.
Warnock has occasionally referenced an injury to explain Richards' absence. A hamstring problem kept him on the treatment table for most of November and December and ensured he was unavailable for the January 5 FA Cup tie with Gillingham that might have presented an opportunity for first-team football.
That search for full fitness has since eluded Richards and there's been no time to gradually re-introduce him. There's no room for sentiment in a relegation scrap, as Warnock knows better than most.
If you consider the January signing of Leandro Bacuna to cover right-back and the fact Richards' contract expires in the summer, it's feasible to suggest he might have played his final game in a blue shirt.
Championship clubs will surely come calling if he is available on a Bosman, though the ability to play regular games is something that the Swansea-born star will still need to address.
Having been at Cardiff's academy as a youngster and since 2016 flying the Welsh flag at Cardiff City Stadium virtually single-handedly, Richards' struggle to assert himself on the club will be a great cause of sadness to supporters.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.